Nothing criminal about bouncing checks, says Villar

For Sen. Manny Villar, it isn’t criminal to write a bouncing check. And if he can convince other members of Congress, he wants to drastically amend martial law era Batas Pambansa Blg. 22 that makes it a crime to issue checks without sufficient funds or credit. Villar has filed Senate Bill No. 2561 to do just that.

Ever the pragmatic businessman, the Senate’s wealthiest member pointed out that our courts are presently burdened by cases involving violations of the Bouncing Checks Law. Villar claims as much as 65 percent of all cases filed in the courts involve bouncing checks. What does this say of us? A country of estafadors?

Villar pointed out that issuers of bouncing checks now face a penalty of imprisonment or fine amounting to not less than or double the amount of the check but not exceeding P200,000. Villar explained that he only proposes to lift the criminal liability, and that there are still other existing laws that protect the public from issuers of bouncing checks.

Villar thinks the Marcos decree is unconstitutional as he pointed out that the Supreme Court in a ruling, expressed a preference to impose a fine instead of imprisonment as a penalty to issuers of bouncing checks. Villar cited the ruling of SC Justice Vicente Mendoza, saying "penal provisions of the law work injustice against offenders who clearly indicate good faith or a clear mistake of fact without taint of negligence."

Villar cited Art. 3, Sec. 20 of the Constitution that provides "No person shall be imprisoned for debt." This means, he said, that no person may be imprisoned for debt in virtue of an order in a civil proceeding, to compel satisfaction of a debt or as a substitute for satisfaction of a debt.

Instead of imprisonment, Villar proposes to make issuers of bouncing checks liable to pay the amount of not less than but not more than double the amount of the check plus legal interests. I see the logic of Villar’s proposal but I worry that the horde of estafadors amongst us will see this as a signal to do their worst. Even with the law making its issuance a criminal offense still in place, bouncing checks pose a serious problem in this country.

I am afraid Sen. Villar did not go far enough in offering an alternative. He should refine his proposed bill to establish a system that would minimize if not eradicate this blight on our business environment.

First of all, the replacement law should provide for the establishment of a registry of people and organizations that have issued bouncing checks. Banks must check the name of the applicant for a checking account against this list. If the name appears in the blacklist, the bank may not open the checking account for the applicant.

A person or an organization gets his or their name in the black list after they have failed to make good on a bounced check after three clearings or after a demand to make good has been made by the creditor and it goes unheeded. If the case is filed in court, the issuer of the bounced check must pay the amount and is fined the equivalent of the check value plus all legal costs. The fine may even be given to a fund that will be used to upgrade salaries of judges and other court officers.

If a bank allows anyone on the blacklist to open a current account, the bank automatically guarantees the checks written by that account. In other words, because the bank had been warned about the quality of the account, it assumes the risk with open eyes. It can no longer bounce any check written by the blacklisted account. This should address the practice of just going to another bank once the current bank closes the account due to bouncing checks.

If these proposed amendments sound harsh, it is by intention. Heaven knows we need to crack down on issuers of bouncing checks. The problem we now have with pyramid scams is a good example. Even the SEC is now asking the banks to report large orders for checkbooks because this is how those pyramid scams trick their victims with a false sense of security offered by a post dated check.

Yet, a blacklist is nothing really novel. In the United States, they have a strict industrywide credit check and those with the bad habit of running away from their debts or writing bad checks are cut off from the financial system. We need something like that here that the bankers association in cooperation with the Bangko Sentral must manage. The current Credit Bureau isn’t quite it.

Manny Villar is right. We don’t have to imprison the deadbeats. It costs the taxpayer money and hardly makes it easier for a creditor to collect. But you cannot just repeal Batas Pambansa 22 and hope other laws will take over. We just have to cut the SOBs from the financial system. If you are in business, that’s as good as a death sentence. People will just have to make an effort to respect their obligations to keep themselves out of that blacklist.

When I was studying at the University of Chicago under a journalism fellowship grant, I paid for almost everything with my personal check. Here in this country, even a manager’s check requires three days clearing. We have to bring back the integrity of the personal or business check as a means to pay for goods and services. Hardly anyone accepts checks anymore, not even government’s tax collectors.

Spearfishing

What is this I hear about an Erap crony pushing his weight around, violating a ban on spearfishing at a protected marine reservation? Some divers supposedly caught this crony spearfishing in the Apo Reef Marine Natural Park in Occidental Mindoro province. This crony must think he is above the law by virtue of connections. Maybe he also made sure the law enforcers in the area would always see it his way. Wala na nga sa poder ang padrino nya, ang yabang pa rin!

This Erap crony was diving from his luxury yacht, Tiara II last month when a group of divers saw him and his two buddies spearfishing with scuba diving equipment (twin tanks) inside the marine park. He allegedly just thumbed his contempt for the law when the other divers pointed out that spearfishing in a protected area is illegal. Ang kapal!

This crony’s claim to fame is his supposedly being a business partner of San Juan Mayor JV Ejercito at a Mercedes Benz dealership. Apo Reef Marine Natural Park is a prime diving destination covering a total area of 24,469 hectares. It was declared a marine park through Presidential Proclamation No. 1801 in 1980 and a protected area under the category of "natural park" by President F.V. Ramos through Proclamation No. 868 on Sept. 6, 1996.

Well, maybe the coast guard and Dick Gordon should look into this right away. Preserving what we have left of our natural wonders is our obligation to future generations of Pinoys. Dick should also consider this an affront to his tourism program. Preserving our natural wonders should be a cornerstone of our tourism effort. It is also an interesting test case if this government has what it takes to enforce the law, no matter whose crony gets hurt.

What a river!

A preacher was winding up his temperance sermon with great fervor. If I had all the beer in the world, I’d take it and throw it into the river." The congregation cried, "Amen!"

"And if I had all the wine in the world, I’d take it and throw it in the river." The congregation cried, "Amen!"

"And if I had all the whiskey and demon rum in the world, I’d take it all and throw it in the river." And the congregation cried, "Amen!"

The preacher sat down. The deacon stood up. "For our closing hymn," he announced, "let us turn to page 126 and sing, ‘We shall gather at the river’."

Boo Chanco’s e-mail address is [email protected]