Our very own 1987 Philippine Constitution states that: “No person shall
be imprisoned for debt or non-payment of a poll tax” (Article III, Sec.
20). This means that a creditor cannot file a criminal case against his
debtor for non-payment of debt. The Constitutional provision
contemplates a situation where there is a simple debt to be paid,
whether such contract was made verbally or was made in writing.
In
the case of credit card debt, Republic Act No. 8484 or the Access
Devices Regulation Act of 1998 penalizes any act of obtaining money or
anything of value through the use of an access device (a credit card,
for example), with intent to defraud or with intent to gain and fleeing
thereafter. Section 14 of the same law also states that:
“A
cardholder who abandons or surreptitiously leaves the place of
employment, business or residence stated in his application or credit
card, without informing the credit card company of the place where he
could actually be found, if at the time of such abandonment or
surreptitious leaving, the outstanding and unpaid balance is past due
for at least ninety (90) days and is more than Ten thousand pesos
(P10,000.00), shall be prima facie presumed to have used his credit card
with intent to defraud.”
In other words, while one cannot be
imprisoned for non-payment of credit card debt, he may be penalized for
credit card fraud if the debtor, who at that time has an unpaid balance
of more than ten thousand pesos (P10,000.00) due for at least ninety
(90) days or more, abandons or surreptitiously leaves his place of
employment, business or residence stated in his application or credit
card without informing the credit card company where he could actually
be found. It is not the non-payment of the debt that is punished under
Section 9 & 10, in relation to Section 14 of R.A. No. 8484 but the
act of defrauding the credit card company.
On the other hand, the
Bangko Sentral ng Pilipinas issued Circular 454, Series of 2004
(September 24, 2004) relating to credit card operations of banks and
subsidiary credit card companies. Section 7 of the Circular defines
unfair collection practices among banks, credit card companies and other
agents. It said that in collecting amounts due them under a credit card
agreement, banks, credit card companies and their agents must observe
good faith and reasonable conduct and refrain from unscrupulous or
untoward acts. It also enumerates what are deemed unfair collection
practices. These are:
a) the use or threat of violence or other criminal means to harm the physical person, reputation, or property of any person;
b) the use of obscenities, insults, or profane language which amount to a criminal act or offense under applicable laws;
c)
disclosure of the names of credit cardholders who allegedly refuse to
pay debts, except as allowed under Subsec. X320.9 and 4301N.9;
d) threat to take any action that cannot legally be taken;
e)
communicating or threat to communicate to any person credit information
which is known to be false, including failure to communicate that a
debt is being disputed;
f) any false representation or deceptive
means to collect or attempt to collect any debt or to obtain information
concerning a cardholder; and
g) making contact at
unreasonable/inconvenient times or hours which shall be defined as
contact before 6:00 A.M. or after 10:00 P.M., unless the account is past
due for more than sixty (60) days or the cardholder has given express
permission or said times are the only reasonable or convenient
opportunities for contact.
Based on your story, it appears that
your credit card company or its collecting agent may be engaging in
unfair collection practices if one or any of their acts falls under any
of the acts enumerated above. If this is so, you may notify the Bangko
Sentral ng Pilipinas that these activities are being done by the credit
card company or their agents.
It is true that as a credit card
holder, you must pay the amounts you promised to pay the credit card
company. However, if you fail to pay, the credit card company must
collect from you by using lawful means and by acts showing good faith on
their part. They must not harass or threaten you to pay.
Thanks...
Home
Hope to hear again from you.