OVER DELINQUENT LOANS: Probe on CBSUA multi-purpose coop urged

By Jose B. Perez, Editor NAGA CITY --- The total amount collectible from the 9 top loan borrowers of the Central State University of Agriculture Multi-Purpose Cooperative has reached P6,702,009.69 (or P6.7M) as of November 30, 2017 and yet there seems to be no sign that such overdue amount will be paid in the soonest time possible. While collection of the unpaid loans should have been easy because of the stipulated salary deductions signed between the coop and the borrower and his/her co-borrower, no such deductions were found to have been effected by the payroll department of the Central Bicol State University of Agriculture (CBSUA), in violation of the loan agreement. A promissory note with deed of agreement signed by the loan borrower states that as principal borrower, he or she promises to pay and authorizes CBSUA thru its Accounting Dept. “to deduct the monthly amortizations from salaries, allowances, retirement benefits, and/or any amount due to me.” All the delinquent borrowers are high-ranking officers and employees of CBSUA. And to everyone’s dismay, most of these top borrowers have secured loans amounting from over two million pesos to less than half a million pesos (as reported in the Aug. 16, 2018 issue of this paper) are either the former manager or chair and member of the audit committee of the same multi-purpose coop. Worse, their spouses were also able to avail of such loans in similar staggering amounts. Consider this: Coop officer X was able to secure loan whose outstanding due amount is P2,216.576.92 while his wife also has P425,455.00 as overdue loan amount. And this: Coop member Y has an outstanding loan amount of P1,170,859.48 while his wife who served as coop manager has yet to pay P904,633.65 of her loaned amount. Epifanio M. Jumao-as, Jr., the present coop manager, said that while they were still able to collect small amounts from small borrowers to answer for the office’s basic operations, the coop may soon go bankrupt if the big amounts will remain unpaid. Besides, he said, such large amounts due the coop would have been re-loaned to other members who are in dire need of financial assistance for their small livelihood projects and basic needs. The coop manager said they have some 212 members as of this date. Disgruntled investor An OFW-investor who poured in over a million pesos in the coop but has not been repaid of his principal amount and supposed dividends warned he would seek for a thorough investigation of the coop and its errant officer-borrowers if only to recover his lost investment. He said he would identify himself in due time even as he continues to gather more evidence regarding the alleged corrupt practices of the delinquent university and multi-purpose officials. He expressed surprise that these delinquent coop borrowers were able to avail of more loans from other banking institutions, such as the Land Bank of the Philippines, GSIS, and UCPB, among others, when in fact they have not settled their old debts or loans with the multi-purpose coop. He explained that one of the requirements for banks to release loans is to require the borrower or loan applicant a clearance from his/her employer stating that he/she has no monetary or other property obligations from his/her present employer, which in this case is CBSUA that has been authorized to collect loan payments thru salary deductions from the coop borrowers. “My suspicion is that someone from concerned department in CBSUA had issued clearances to the borrowers, when in fact they (borrowers) were errant in their loan obligations, which is tantamount to deceit, false information, and falsification of public documents,” the disgruntled OFW investor told this reporter. ‘They bought cars’ He also found out that despite order by then CBSUA President Gina Bordado for the university’s payroll department to effect salary deductions following Coop Manager Jumao-As’s request, not a single deduction was made, for unknown reason, on the borrowing officers. “It was a blatant case of disobeying the president’s clear order and someone must be held responsible,” he said. Jumao-as wondered why these borrowing coop officers chose not to pay their obligations, when they very well know that the coop where they are part of is in deep financial woes unlike before when it was operating smoothly and catering to the best interest of its members. He said these errant coop officers had since tripled their salaries following the government’s salary standardization law that benefited most those who have PhDs attached to their professional names. He added these borrowers have been buying brand new cars, for themselves and for their wives, but would not care to look back to pay back the huge loans they had made with the coop and other lending institutions. When confronted, someone reportedly casually said: “Mayo man napi-preso sa utang.” That may be true, said our source, but no errant government officer may escape RA 6713, specifically its Section 2 which provides for code of conduct and ethical standards for public officials and employees to uphold the time-honored principle of public office being a public trust. Any violation thereof may mean dismissal from the service or forfeiture of benefits, or both. And what about the alleged falsification of documents, if proven true?