MANILA, 03 July 2018 – The Court of Appeals denied the Motion for Reconsideration filed by the Baguio Benguet Community Credit Cooperative (BBCCC) against the Credit Information Corporation (CIC). The CA upheld the constitutionality of the inclusion of cooperatives in submitting credit data of their member-borrowers to the CIC.
In a Resolution dated 6 June 2018 signed by Chairperson Associate Justice Remedios A. Salazar-Fernando of the Former 2nd Division CA, declared that the petition raised by the said credit cooperative does not warrant the reversal of the assailed decision which stated that even if credit cooperatives extend loans only to their members or that cooperatives are autonomous, they are not exempt from the mandatory coverage of the law because they provide credit facilities to their members. The Former 2nd Division CA also maintained that the law which created CIC aims to establish a credit information system that is as comprehensive as possible and that the exclusion of credit cooperatives from the mandatory coverage and operation of the law will, to some extent, weaken, if not defeat the purpose of the law.
On 7 March 2018 BBCCC, through its Manager May Ann Bungag with Atty. Nelson V. Gayo, Oscar R. Adversalo, Conrad B. Chan, Mario S. Valdez, Emmanuel V. Tadeo and Consuelo M. Fernandez, filed a Motion for Reconsideration stating that the CA misinterpreted the issue they raised and the law. On 22 January 2018, the Court of Appeals on its Notice of Judgment affirmed they were not convinced, denied the petition for lack of merit and dismissed the petition. It upheld the constitutionality of RA 9510 and its Implementing Rules and Regulations.
The CIC has been tasked to be the country’s central credit registry. It was created by Republic Act No. 9510 entitled: Credit Information Systems Act (CISA) to receive data from banks, credit cards, cooperatives and other financing institutions in order to establish the Philippines’ comprehensive and reliable credit information. Once CIC is fully operational, cooperatives will be able to assist their member-borrowers from being over-indebted. This would also assure that cooperatives which are extending loans or credits to their member-borrowers are prioritized to collect unpaid loans from defaulted members.