‘No funds lost’ despite system glitch

Mobile wallet service GCash on Tuesday said there were no funds lost from its users following complaints of missing money due to alleged unauthorized transactions.

GCash vice president for corporate communications Gilda Maquilan told ABS-CBN’s TeleRadyo that users’ funds would return to their accounts by 3 p.m. Tuesday.

“There is no fund loss at doon po sa ating mga na-inconvenience, ito pong amount na ito ay mare-reflect, maba-balance out sa kanilang account. Bigyan lang po kami ng until 3 p.m. today at ito’y mare-reflect back doon sa kanilang mga account,” she said.

(To those we inconvenienced, the amount in your accounts will be reflected and balanced out eventually. Please give us until 3 p.m. today for this to reflect back to your accounts.)

Maquilan said that since Monday, GCash has received several complaints from customers about unauthorized transactions, where some of their funds were allegedly transferred to bank accounts ending in the number 5239.

In a separate statement, GCash said its systems were not hacked following an investigation.

“We wish to further assure the affected customers that their funds remain safe and secure. We would also like to remind customers never to share their OTP and MPIN,” its statement read.

ThePhilippine national government’s total outstanding debt reached P13.86 trillion as of the end of March, higher by 0.8 percent compared to the previous month, the Bureau of Treasury said on Monday.

As of writing, GCash remained inaccessible for some users, despite a Facebook advisory posted 10:19 a.m. saying it had “restored our services.”

Maquilan said a system maintenance, which had been in effect since 12 midnight Tuesday, was taking “more than usual.”

GCash later said it extended its maintenance following the complaints.

“Tinitingnan natin ngayon kung ano iyong fixes at maintenance na kailangan po nating gawin,” Maquilan said, apologizing to customers inconvenienced by the glitch.

(We are looking into what fixes and maintenance activities we need to conduct.)

Laban TNVS president Jun de Leon said in a separate TeleRadyo interview that 300 of his fellow transport network vehicle service (TNVS) drivers suffered the same problem on their GCash accounts.

He called on the Bangko Sentral ng Pilipinas (BSP) to freeze the bank accounts where their funds were allegedly transferred.

He also reported their onetime PINs (OTP) and MPIN codes were allegedly bypassed.

Out of the total debt stock, 31.3 percent was sourced externally while 68.7 percent were domestic borrowings, the BTr said.

Domestic debt amounted to P9.51 trillion, higher by 0.8 percent compared to the end-February level, data showed.

Meanwhile, foreign debt reached P4.34 trillion or 0.8 percent higher than the previous month, records showed.

The increment in external debt was due to the P84.26 billion net availment of foreign loans and P18.53 billion impact of third currency adjustments against the US dollar, the BTr said.

The national government’s external debt has also increased by P133.27 billion of

3.2 percent from December 2022.

The government borrowed heavily to finance the country’s COVID-19 response and an ambitious infrastructure push during the administration of former President Rodrigo Duterte. This pushed the country’s debt-to-GDP ratio to 63.7 percent in the third quarter of 2022. But by the end of last year, the ratio had improved to 60.9 percent.

Before the pandemic, a 60 percent debt-to-GDP ratio was considered high by global standards.