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Marissa Dela Cruz

Last updated: 1 October 2026

Marissa Dela Cruz is the editor of Loan Low Interest. She writes, checks and updates the guides on this site and the review of loan apps and digital lenders on the home page. Her role is to explain how borrowing works and what to check before you borrow. She does not give personalized financial or legal advice, and she does not recommend that any reader take a loan.

What She Writes About

Her work focuses on the practical questions Filipino borrowers face: what a loan really costs, which documents lenders ask for, how repayment and late fees work, and how to tell an authorized lender from a risky one. She covers the topics in four areas: cost, eligibility, repayment and borrower safety.

How She Works

1. Start from official sources. Each guide begins with the text of the relevant Philippine law or regulator guidance, such as the Truth in Lending Act (Republic Act No. 3765), SEC circulars on lending and financing companies, BSP consumer protection pages and the Data Privacy Act of 2012 (Republic Act No. 10173).
2. Read provider terms directly. For the loan app review, she reads each provider's own help pages and disclosure statements and notes what is published and what is not.
3. Check regulator records. A name appears in the review only if its identity could be checked. Providers whose authority cannot be confirmed, or has been cancelled, are removed.
4. Use hypothetical examples. Worked examples use made-up figures that are labelled as illustrations, and the arithmetic is checked before publication.
5. Say what is uncertain. When sources disagree or a figure may have changed, the page says so.
6. Update and correct. Pages carry a last updated date and are revised when terms or rules change or when a reader reports an error.

Standards She Follows

• She does not claim that any lender has the "lowest" or "cheapest" rate unless comparable, current data supports it.
• She does not promise approval or imply that approval is guaranteed.
• She does not name companies as scams; safety guides describe behaviors and point readers to regulator records.
• She discloses that some links on the site may be affiliate links, and explains that commercial relationships do not decide what is included. See the editorial policy.

Guides by Marissa Dela Cruz

The home page review, Top 10 Legit Loan Apps With Low Interest Philippines, and the following guides are written and maintained by her:

• Understanding Loan Interest and Costs in the Philippines: What goes into the cost of a loan, from interest to fees and total repayment.
• Effective Interest Rate vs Add-On Rate: Why the same quoted rate can cost different amounts.
• Loan Interest vs Fees: The charges that change what you receive and repay.
• How to Compare Loan Costs Step by Step: A seven-step method with a worksheet.
• Loan Requirements and Eligibility: The documents and conditions lenders commonly ask for.
• What Affects Your Loan Eligibility: How lenders weigh income, credit history and debts.
• Valid IDs Commonly Used for Loan Applications: Which IDs lenders accept and how to keep yours safe.
• Can You Get a Loan With No Credit History?: What lenders look at instead and how to borrow carefully.
• Loan Repayment in the Philippines: Schedules, channels, late charges and affordability.
• How Loan Repayment Works, Including GCash and Maya: Payment channels and proof of payment.
• Late Payment Fees and Consequences: What a missed due date can lead to, and your rights.
• How to Calculate Your Total Loan Repayment: Formulas, examples and a free calculator.
• Loan App Safety in the Philippines: A four-step routine for safer borrowing.
• How to Verify a Lending Company: Checking registration and authority to operate.
• Loan App Scam Warning Signs: Common tactics in loan scams and abusive apps.
• How to Report Abusive Loan Collection: Documenting harassment and where to report it.

What Readers Can Expect From Her Guides

Every guide follows the same approach. It opens with the question a borrower is trying to answer, explains the key terms in plain English, shows a worked example with clearly labelled hypothetical figures, lists the checks to make before you accept an offer, and ends with answers to common questions. Each page links to the related guides so you can follow a topic from cost, to eligibility, to repayment, to safety without searching again.

The guides are written for people who are comparing offers, preparing an application, repaying a loan, or trying to work out whether a lender is trustworthy. They are not written to push you toward any particular lender. When a page mentions a rule, such as an interest ceiling for certain small loans, it states who the rule covers and who it does not, because misreading the scope of a rule is a common cause of confusion.

Why Her Pages Carry a Last Updated Date

Interest ceilings, disclosure rules, complaint procedures and provider fee tables all change. A guide that was accurate last year can mislead a borrower today. For this reason each page shows a last updated date, and pages are revised when she confirms a change in the source. If you spot something that no longer matches an official source, please write to the address below. Reader corrections are checked against the source and, when confirmed, are made quickly and reflected in the date shown at the top of the page.

Contact

To suggest a correction or ask about a guide, write to admin@loanlowinterest.com or use the contact page. She cannot give advice on individual loans or help with a specific dispute with a lender. For harassment or misuse of your data, see how to report abusive loan collection practices.