Villar urges financial institutions to implement loan moratoriums

Senator Mark Villar files a Senate Resolution urging the government financial institutions to implement loan moratoriums, grace periods, and penalty condonation to help Filipinos cope with rising fuel prices and living costs amid the ongoing energy crisis. His proposal, Senate Resolution No. 366, covers service agencies and financial institutions such as the Social Security System (SSS), Pag-IBIG Fund, National Home Mortgage Finance Corporation (NHMFC), LandBank, and DBP, and seeks temporary relief measures including suspension of loan payments, waiver of penalties, and flexible payment terms. According to the senator, the resolution proposes a one- to three-month loan moratorium, penalty condonation, loan restructuring, interest-rate reduction, and expedited calamity or emergency loan approval with built in grace period, stressing that these practices were, modeled after past emergency responses, to prevent defaults and support economic recovery.| Aram Lascano, Photos by OS Mark Villar