July 7, 2020
Dear Grace A. Graciadas,
Greetings!
Thank you for your request dated Jun 30, 2020 12:54:04 PM under Executive Order No. 2 (s. 2016) on Freedom of Information in the Executive Branch.
Your Request
You asked for Amount of Fines Issued to Lending & Financing Companies for Collection During Grace Period.
Response to Request
This refers to your requests filed under the Freedom of Information (FOI) Program of the Securities and Exchange Commission on 30 June 2020.
At the outset, please be informed that the FOI Program is the government’s response to the call for transparency and full public disclosure of information. FOI is a government mechanism, which allows Filipino citizens to request any information about government transactions and operations, provided that it shall not put into jeopardy – privacy and matters of national security.
Section 3 of Executive Order No. 2, Series of 2016 provides that:
SECTION 3. Access to information. Every Filipino shall have access to information, official records, public records and to documents and papers pertaining to official acts, transactions or decisions, as well as to government research data used as basis for policy development.
However, the call for transparency is not without limits. The right to access information is limited to the abovementioned matters and does not extend to matters that are discretionary in nature and/or that encroach upon privacy rights.
With this in mind, this office will address the requests for information dated 30 June 2020, as follows:
Amount of Fines Issued to Lending & Financing Companies for Collection During Grace Period
1) The total number/ amount of fines (in PHP) issued to LC or FC for violations of the mandatory grace period;
Complaints regarding alleged violations of the Bayanihan Act particularly on the implementation of mandatory grace period are currently under investigation and/or have been endorsed to other government agencies for appropriate action.
2) An explanation of why FamilyHan Credit Corp was allowed to send 3056 demand letters during the mandatory grace period/ any relevant information into the FamilyHan investigation, such as status updates.
Please be informed that all complaints against FamilyHan are already under evaluation and investigation, the proceedings of which are confidential in nature under Sec. 2-4, Part II, Rule II of the 2016 Rules of Procedure of the Securities and Exchange Commission. As such, details as to the investigation and proceedings appurtenant thereto are exempted from the coverage of FOI program.
Finally, it was noted that most of the above-cited request for information do not fall under the definition of “information”, “official record/records”, or “public record/records” as defined under E.O. No. 02, series of 2016, and which may be the subject of an FOI request, viz:
"Information" shall mean any records, documents, papers, reports, letters, contracts, minutes of official meetings, maps, books, photographs, data, research materials, films, sound and video recording, magnetic or other tapes, electronic data computer stored data, any other like or similar data or materials recorded, stored or archived in whatever format, whether offline or online, which are made, received, or kept in or under the control and custody of the Commission pursuant to law, executive order, and rules and regulations or in connection with the performance or transaction of official business of the Commission
"Official record/records" shall refer to information produced or received by the Commission in an official capacity or pursuant to a public function or duty
"Public record/records" shall include information required by laws, executive orders, rules, or regulations to be entered, kept and made publicly available by the Commission
For your information and guidance.
Thank you.
Your right to request a review
If you are unhappy with this response to your FOI request, you may ask us to carry out an internal review of the response by writing to Commission Secretary with email ad
[email protected] . Your review request should explain why you are dissatisfied with this response, and should be made within 15 calendar days from the date when you received this letter. We will complete the review and tell you the result within 30 calendar days from the date when we receive your review request.
If you are not satisfied with the result of the review, you then have the right to appeal to the Office of the President under Administrative Order No. 22 (s. 2011).
Thank you.
Respectfully,
Atty. Rachel Esther Gumtang- Remalante
FOI Receiving Officer
