Philippine Senator Sherwin Gatchalian recently harshly criticized online gambling and illegal online lending platforms for "jointly harvesting" the poor in a speech in the Senate. He pointed out that more and more Filipinos are losing their savings due to addiction to online gambling, forced to borrow high-interest loans to break even, resulting in a vicious cycle of mounting debts.
Gatchalian noted that these unlicensed online lending apps generally provide loans quickly but at astonishing interest rates, with extremely unreasonable terms. Many borrowers, in order to repay old debts, continuously borrow new debts from multiple platforms, eventually getting stuck in the mire of multiple loans. Victims have sought help on social media platforms, saying, "Borrowed from 10 apps and still can't pay back, the more I borrow, the poorer I get."
He specifically emphasized that illegal apps not only drain borrowers' finances but also violently collect debts by stealing contact lists, intimidating and harassing relatives and friends, and publicly humiliating them, causing tremendous mental stress.
In response, Gatchalian has formally proposed a motion in the Senate to thoroughly investigate illegal lending practices and urge financial regulatory and law enforcement agencies to decisively ban unlicensed platforms. He stated, "Our poor have already suffered enough, they should not be further exploited by online gambling and high-interest loans."
