Punjabi youngsters who rush into the money-lending business in Manila have made things difficult for old-timers, a report in Hindustan Times suggests.
While immigrants used to take the time to learn Filipino, understand Filipino culture, and get to know their clients, Chitwant Singh, who has been in the Philippines for decades, says the new generation of Punjabis enter the business without due diligence. That, the report says, “(spoils) the entire show.”
They offer lower interest rates but sometimes don’t bother to check whether a borrower can pay off the loan. “They take the plunge without learning the tricks of the trade. In the bargain, they suffer losses and some of them pay with their lives,” he says in the report.
The younger generation of Indian moneylenders and businessmen are also more into drinking and drugs than running a business, Singh says. When a moneylender–colloquially called “5-6” as in borrow 5 and pay 6–does not collect regularly, “borrowers try to exploit the situation”, he says.
A Philippine Center for Investigative Journalism report in 2007 noted a rise in crimes against Indians. The report also noted some in the Indian community in the Philippines did not feel that the Philippine National Police was very keen on resolving crimes they report.
Although it is common knowledge that many Filipino families borrow from Indian moneylenders to get by, the Hindustan Times reports something that is not as commonly known. According to the report, some Punjabi immigrants have “contract” wives whom they marry in order to get residency papers.
“‘Contract’ wives agree to cancel the marriage on getting 25,000 to 50,000 pesos” in monthly payments of P1,500 to P2,500, the report said.
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Photo: UN Avenue Station/Ramon F Velasquez
