Paluwagan Problem: Funds Sent To Old Gcash, Member Claims No Liability

Location: Nueva Ecija, Philippines

Hi everyone, I need advice regarding a paluwagan (money pooling/saving scheme) issue we’re facing.

Last August 31, one of our members received her turn in the paluwagan. The handler accidentally sent her payout to her old GCash account, which is still under her name. GCash later confirmed that the money was successfully received in that account.

At first, the member claimed she hadn’t used that GCash for two years and that the SIM card linked to it was already gone. Because of this, the handler immediately reported the mistaken transfer to GCash, and the account was placed on hold. But later on, the member admitted that she actually recovered the SIM card, and when she tried to open her GCash, it was indeed on hold—because the handler had already reported the issue.

GCash also verified that the account was not abandoned, since there were transactions within the last six months. This contradicts her earlier claim that it had been inactive for two years.

We gave her one month to coordinate with GCash and fix the issue, but she showed no urgency. By September, nothing was resolved. The case even went through barangay mediation, but she still refused to cooperate with GCash. Now it’s already October and she hasn’t provided any transaction history or proof of resolution, nor has she paid back her share to the paluwagan. Instead, she keeps saying that only legal action will settle this.

The problem is that the money is confirmed to be in her GCash account, and GCash already advised that only the account owner has the right to call them to request a transfer back to the sender. But she refuses to do it and has done nothing. Because of this, our paluwagan cycle is disrupted, and our payout has already been delayed by several days and is incomplete.

Has anyone here experienced something like this? What would be the best move in this case—a demand letter, small claims case, or filing estafa? Any insights on what action we can take would be a huge help, since our payout is already delayed and short