The Department of Education (DepEd) reminded its personnel to refrain from using their ATM payroll cards as collateral for loans or engaging in the ATM “sangla” scheme.
Education Secretary Leonor Briones (DEPED / FACEBOOK / MANILA BULLETIN FILE PHOTO)
Education Secretary Leonor Briones, in Office Memorandum (OM-OSEC-2020-006) issued to all undersecretaries, assistant secretaries, bureau and service directors, regional directors, schools division superintendents, public elementary and secondary school heads, and all others concerned, warned against the practice of surrendering ATM cards as collateral for loans as this is prohibited by the DepEd Terms and Conditions for Accreditation under the Automatic Payroll Deduction System.
“ATM Card pawning has been noted by the Bangko Sentral ng Pilipinas (BSP) as a dangerous scheme, for it exposes borrowers to identity theft and unauthorized use of personal data possibly for unlawful activities,” Briones said. “Also, BSP finds that this practice unduly promotes overindebtedness,” she added. To support its personnel amid the Enhanced Community Quarantine (ECQ) due to COVID-19 pandemic, Briones said that the DepEd along with other government agencies are implementing various policies that would lessen their financial burden. Briones explained that pursuant to Section 4 (aa) of the Republic Act No. 11469, otherwise known as the Bayanihan to Heal as One Act, and the Implementing Rules and Regulations issued by the Department of Finance effective April 2, 2020, several entities and institutions, both public and private, including the Government Service Insurance System (GSIS) and Pag-IBIG Fund, have issued their respective guidelines for the “implementation of the mandatory grace period or the suspension of payment for loans.” The GSIS and the Pag-IBIG Fund, Briones explained, “even granted an expanded relief for a three-month moratorium on loan payments and an extension of the loan terms of their individual borrowers. Briones added that the DepEd Provident Fund also granted a three-month relief for its borrowers by suspending the collection of payment from April 2020 to June 2020.Likewise, she noted that DepEd is set “to refund the loan amortizations deducted from the April 2020 payroll and the suspension of deductions for loan payments from the May 2020 salary payroll.”
Moreover, Briones said that DepEd took initiatives for the early processing and release of the salaries of employees for the months of March and April. This, she added, is to “ensure that employees have additional cash while battling the COVID-19 pandemic.” These financial reliefs will be reflected in the payroll months of April, May, and June 2020.
“With the additional cash credited to the ATM accounts of the employees, this Department reiterates its advice against the use of their individual ATM Payroll Card as collateral for loans or engaging in the ATM 'sangla' scheme,” Briones ended.