Online lending apps face fines for threats, public shaming under refiled Senate bill

MANILA, Philippines — A senator refiled legislation Monday, July 7, that would penalize online lending companies and debt collectors who publicly shame, harass and threaten borrowers. 

Sen. Sherwin Gatchalian said the proposed Fair Debt Collection Practices Act would be among his priority measures for the 20th Congress. In a statement, Gatchalian pointed to one Valenzuela City constituent who took his own life after he and his family were subjected to an online lending company's "constant harassment and threats."

“It is inhumane to collect debts through threats and abuse, especially from our poor countrymen who are desperately borrowing money just to survive,” Gatchalian said in Filipino. 

Gatchalian's bill would ban debt collectors from using threats of violence, obscene language and disclosing borrowers' personal information publicly. Violators could face fines of up to P60,000.

The proposed legislation comes amid a growing outcry over abusive online lending applications — a problem flagged in 2021 by the Department of Justice, which issued a public advisory warning against lenders who harass borrowers through doxing, threats, and public shaming. The DOJ said victims could pursue legal action under existing laws, including the Cybercrime Prevention Act, the Data Privacy Act, and provisions of the Revised Penal Code.

Last month, the Presidential Anti-Organized Crime Commission said it received over 13,000 complaints against abusive online lending applications between April and May alone. 

A study also shows that Filipinos have been increasingly turning to online lending apps to tide themselves over. A May 2025 study by digital lender Digido found that Filipino consumers spent a cumulative 1.54 billion seconds on digital lending platforms in 2024 — a 16% increase from the previous year.

Gatchalian first filed the Fair Debt Collection Practices Act as Senate Bill 818 in 2022 during the 19th Congress, but the measure stalled at the committee level. — with reports by Ian Laqui and Dominique Flores