Here’s what the DepEd has to say

For regular readers of this column, you must be aware of the concerns that have been brought to our attention by the group of PLIs (private lending institutions) servicing the loan needs of the teachers and other staff at DepEd. For those of you who have not followed it closely, we questioned the department’s "temporary" suspension of the contracts entered into by DepEd with these PLIs in mid-stream, invoking their obligation to protect the rights of the teachers who have incurred loans from these institutions whom they have invited and accredited in the first place to provide such loans. We have maintained that it is illegal and immoral to renege on existing contracts and inject new terms into the picture. However, to the credit of these PLIs, they have complied with the new requirements. Up to now, most of these PLIs are unable to collect on their old loans, and the investors of these PLIs, mostly retirees and other private persons seeking stable returns on their savings bear the brunt of this.

Undersecretary Juan Miguel Luz of finance and administration of the DepEd wrote in response to my columns. In the interest of fair reportage, I promised him equal space in my column so they can air their side.

Usec. Luz writes that for some three decades now, the Automatic Payroll Deduction System has been unregulated, unmonitored and abused, such that some PLIs have been charging exorbitant interest rates (as much as 75.5 percent, according to him). They suspect collusion with DepEd personnel in the monthly preparation of deduction reports, but since this is difficult to prove, they choose to focus instead on prevention rather than prosecution.

Usec. Luz admits that teachers are over-borrowed and unfazed by this, but his concern is the possibility of these same people seeking redress from the department when things get untenable.

Their APDS reforms thus focused on three major aspects: the review and accreditation of all existing PLIs allowed access to their APDs; re-programming of the payroll software program to prevent staff from manipulating payroll files and changing the order of deductions in an individual teacher’s payroll; and lastly the re-engineering of the payroll slip to discourage over-borrowing.

Usec. Luz agrees with me that we cannot allow the teachers who are steeped in the culture of borrowing to fall into the clutches of five to six lenders. They are bent on reforming and regulating the APDS to protect the interest of the teachers. The PLIs, in effect, should look after themselves.

What has been left unanswered is the main question of what happens to the interests of the legitimate PLIs. The retroactive implementation of some major policies is most disturbing and unsettling. You can not wantonly undo a signed, sealed and delivered contract. In the course of all these reformatting of systems, etc,, the re-billing of these existing loans means tons of paper work, delay in billing, debilitating reduction of agreed-upon rates for old loans. The PLIs who cannot cope with the snow-balling effects of these unbilled loans just fold their tents and die by the roadside, outside the gates of DepEd. And with them, the thousands of private investors who have entrusted their life savings with them. Maybe there is a Part 2 to Usec. Luz’s position on this whole thing. I’ll hold my breath.

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Confusion rules at the gates of BF Homes in Parañaque. The protagonists in this turf battle are Mayor Jun Bernabe of Parañaque and Celso Reyes, president of UBFHAI (United BF Homes Assoc., Inc) under whose umbrella all the homeowners’ associations fall.

Last Aug. 27, Saturday, flyers were sent out by the good Mayor announcing the opening of the main gates of the subdivision namely Aguirre and El Grande to public traffic by 6 p.m. of that day. The next day, a circular from UBFHAI announced that it was closing the Elizalde gate (one of the major gates) at 1 p.m. That Sunday, when traffic should have been light and easy, had the residents in pandemonium. I heard they also posted two security guards at Aguirre and Banzon to direct delivery trucks to the clubhouse.

The war of flyers continued. According to UBFHAI under Mr. Reyes, there was an injunction granted by the RTC of Muntinlupa on Nov. 6, 2000 barring the opening of BF’s main thoroughfares to public traffic. Mayor Bernabe, on the other hand, informs us that this injunction was in fact dismissed last July 25, 2005, effectively paving the way for the Mayor to implement his solutions to the many problems that have been brought to his attention.

As a backgrounder, many homeowners have complained to the Mayor about the exorbitant fees being charged at the BF gates. Imagine a lechon delivery being charged P500 to get through the gates. This is a personal experience. A friend of mine, on the other hand, complained that the delivery truck which was going to deliver his order of hollow blocks was being charged P5,000, and his order was only worth P7,000!

In opening the Aguirre and El Grande gates to public traffic, Mayor B is effectively implementing the Parañaque zoning ordinance as well as taking over the BF gates from UBFHAI ‘to prevent further abuses and harassment of BF homeowners and stopping all illegal collections." Mayor B wrote subsequently to all homeowners, and I quote it here partially: "With the best intention of ensuring your safety and the protection of your families and homes while shielding you from these undeserved forms of harassment and coercion which you may have experienced at one time or the other and therefore well aware of, I have ordered, as a valid exercise of the police power vested in me by law (R.A. 7160) the opening of the Aguirre and El Grande gates and placing these under the control of the city gov’t through the local PNP in coordination with officials of Brgy. BF for the specific purpose of regulating the use of these roads at certain specific hrs of the day."

City Ordinance 97-08 re-classifies Aguirre and El Grande Avenues as commercial roads, and C.O. 00-15 and Resolution 99-53 has effectively opened El Grande, Aguirre, Elizalde and Concha Cruz which leads out to Alabang because these roads are linked to major city throughfares.

The City of Las Piñas supports Mayor Bernabe in enforcing the ordinances and have allowed their gates to be opened. The latest we heard however is that UBFHAI has reclaimed the gates by virtue of the order of the Muntinglupa RTC "reiterating the preliminary mandatory injunction against mayor Bernabe, et al", and further announced a thanksgiving Mass for this "victory".

I’m sure we have not heard the last of this.

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Watch out for the "Kami Naman Neo-Jam Breakout Series Concert Launch" of Sunshine Television in cooperation with NU 107 on Sept. 10 at Carousel Court of Festival mall in Filinvest Alabang where seven new bands are breaking out of anonymity and into the spotlight via an eight-leg tour around the Metro. Concert starts at 4 p.m. and admission is free. Sanbox topbills the event, together with Green Leafy Veggies, Skewed Rapture, Emily, Krayola, Oremus and Ligid, plus other guest bands.

Mabuhay! Be proud to be a Filipino.

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