Online lending app (OLA) operations and their ill effects are proving far worse than those of POGO and online gambling and should be banned altogether.

This warning came from Presidential Anti-Organized Crime Commission (PAOCC) executive director Secretary Gilbert Cruz, who emphasized that OLA directly affects Filipinos. At the rate it is growing, OLA could soon overtake online gambling as the leading cause of personal and social destruction, he said.

He explained that OLAs, which are accessible to all ages through mobile phones, lure borrowers with quick and easy loans that eventually trap them in financial distress due to steep interest rates ranging from 35 to 40 percent.

Lenders collect borrowers’ contact lists, emails, payslips and social media accounts, and when payments are delayed, they employ harassment tactics — including public shaming via text, email and social media. Cruz noted that AI-generated lewd images or sex videos of borrowers have also been used to humiliate victims.

He revealed that at least six OLA-related deaths have been recorded, with victims taking their own lives after enduring severe harassment and shame.

Cruz added that even in the early stages of their investigations into POGO-related crimes, the rise of OLAs and their harmful effects were already becoming apparent.

Unlike POGO-related crimes, often committed by foreigners against fellow nationals, OLAs involve Filipinos preying on other Filipinos. However, Cruz warned that foreigners behind POGO operations may also be using Filipinos as “keyboard warriors” in OLA schemes.

Given these dangers, Cruz urged that OLAs, alongside online gambling, be completely banned in the country for the safety of all Filipinos — young and old alike.