Senator Raffy Tulfo called out the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) for the several lapses he observed in terms of regulating financial and lending companies' operation of their respective online lending applications (OLAs).

According to Tulfo, his office has received numerous complaints from netizens who borrowed from OLAs. They were shocked to learn that their personal information was being shared with others.

During the Senate Subcommittee on Banks and Financial Institutions hearing on March 27, Tulfo revealed that he discovered that SEC allowed lending companies to freely share the confidential information of borrowers with third-party service providers, as stated in Section 2 of their Circular No. 18, s. 2019.

"Why would you allow OLA to share private information of their clients to a collection agency which is a different animal?” Tulfo asked.

“Baguhin niyo itong circular order ninyo (Change this circular order of yours),” he added.

Lawyer Kenneth Joy Quimio, OIC Director of the Financing and Lending Companies Department of the SEC argued that these third-party providers act as agents for the OLAs.

Tulfo, however, expressed opposition to this, saying it clearly violates the Data Privacy Act of 2012 (Republic Act No. 10173), which protects sensitive personal information. He further argued that OLAs and third-party service providers are separate entities and should not be given such sensitive data.

As a result, Tulfo suggested that OLAs should set up their own collection units to collect debts, so that victims could seek recourse in case they are harassed. He also recommended the complete removal of the provision in the SEC Circular and its review to create a new policy, which Atty. Quimio agreed with.

Tulfo also criticized the SEC’s confusing list, which included 117 registered financial and lending corporations operating over 181 online lending platforms, a list released only on March 18, 2025.

Tulfo questioned why, despite the SEC’s imposition of a moratorium on online lending platforms on Nov. 2, 2021, allowing no new registrations, the SEC had seemingly permitted the registration of new companies, which increased the number of platforms by about 40 in 2025.

Quimio explained that some companies had over-declared and listed their websites, which were only for marketing and advertising purposes. He added that the SEC continuously monitors OLAs.

Tulfo did not accept this explanation, and said he found out a company named Sun Prime Incorporated, which did not apply for an OLA license before the moratorium in 2021 but was allowed by the SEC to operate as Salmon Finance in 2025.

In response, Quimio promised to check with their offices on how this happened and to submit an official response report to Tulfo.

Tulfo also recommended that it is time for the SEC to actively clean up its list of registered financial and lending companies to better inform the public about legitimate and accredited lending companies, and to discourage consumers from engaging with bogus and exploitative online lending companies.