THE DEPARTMENT of Education urged its partner private lending institutions and government funding institutions to provide a flexible and manageable loan payment scheme for its employees in accordance with the Bayanihan Act 2.

The DepEd has coordinated with its partner PLIs and GFIs to grant a loan moratorium to its employees that will extend the deadline of payments for 60 more days. DepEd also asked its partners to waive the accrued interests.

The Bayanihan Act 2 contains a loan moratorium provision where borrowers are granted a 60-day grace period in the payment of loans due on or before December 31, 2020.

“What is the best possible term for our employees? The Secretary has written to all of the GFIs and PLIs, strongly urging them to go beyond the 60-day grace period,” DepEd Undersecretary for Finance Annalyn Sevilla said.

Out of the 173 lending institutions offering services to DepEd personnel, 89 agreed to the department’s request.

“We thank the 89 PLIs and GFIs na hindi magpapataw ng accrued interest. We would like for our media partners to know na karamihan po dito, maliban sa GSIS at MTMASI/MTLSAI, ay maliliit na PLIs pero they really understood the welfare of our teachers and employees,” Sevilla said.

The guidelines and list of these institutions were issued through Memorandum OUF-2020-0552 (https://www.deped.gov.ph/wp-content/uploads/2020/10/INTERNAL-GUIDELINES-Bayanihan-Act-2-FINAL-1.1.pdf)

Meanwhile 30, comprised mostly of banks, have agreed to adhere to the 60-day grace period set by the Bayanihan Act 2 and also to the added 60-day extension but still require the payment of the accrued interest on or before December 31, 2020, or as agreed between the PLI and the borrower.

DepEd said 50 LSIs have not yet expressed their decision to waive accrued interest on the loan moratorium. Usec. Sevilla said that for these institutions, the basic guidelines of the Bayanihan Act 2 will be applied.

“Alam po natin na ang implementation ng loan moratorium ay mayroon ding economic impact for both the borrowers and the lenders, and we do understand the 30 PLIs na hindi po nagbigay ng waiver because they also have their own borrowings and investments to fund, they have employees to compensate, and they also have other clientele aside from DepEd,” Sevilla explained.

The Automatic Payroll Deduction System of DepEd that automatically deducts and  remits the loan amortizations of the employees to the PLIs and GFIs will adapt the policies and adjustments of the Bayanihan Act 2.

As of August 2020, DepEd has recorded 933,697 filled positions, and 70.21 percent of this number, or roughly 655,582 personnel, are borrowers from PLIs and/or GFIs.