As further support to its personnel, the Department of Education (DepEd) has reminded private lending institutions (PLIs), accredited under the Department’s Automatic Payroll Deduction System (APDS) program, to comply on not charging any penalties, fines, or surcharges to DepEd personnel due to delays brought by the public health situation.
In a general letter to private entities, Undersecretary for Finance Annalyn Sevilla said that delays are anticipated on the processing and releasing of remittances with regard to the payment of loan obligations of concerned borrowers due to the strict implementation of home quarantine in all households and work-from-home arrangement in the Executive Branch.
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Under paragraph 4.7.3 of the Terms and Conditions of the APDS Accreditation (TCAA), the Lender/Entity shall not charge penalties, fines, surcharges due to delays of payments, for failure of the DepEd to remit on time due to errors, inadvertence, force majeure, or any extreme circumstance, among others.
In addition, DepEd also encouraged all APDS-accredited PLIs to not impose additional interest due to the said delays on the release of remittances on loans. This is consistent with Item 2 [Regulatory Relief Package to Bangko Sentral ng Pilipinas (BSP) Supervised Financial Institutions] of the Primer on BSP Memorandum No. M-2020-008 regarding the BSP’s action on COVID-19 Pandemic.
Under the leadership of Secretary Leonor Magtolis Briones, the Department explored various ways to assist its personnel amid the COVID-19 outbreak.
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DepEd is set to issue the Php 6,000 clothing allowance for regular employees, and the Performance-Based Bonus (PBB) for Fiscal Year (FY) 2018 for school-based personnel upon clearance from the Department of Budget and Management (DBM).
Meanwhile, the Department is committed to appeal for re-consideration and exhaust all possible courses of action for its non-school-based personnel to likewise receive the PBB.
The Department is also eyeing to provide additional funds for the DepEd Provident Loan Fund. These funds will assist regional offices with urgent, critical and immediate responses related to COVID-19 threats and in support for affected personnel.
PASIG CITY, March 24, 2020
DepEd Press Release
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