Auctions are a good way to unload unwanted stuff. These are events designed to sell valuable items to the highest bidders. A common type of auction involves motor vehicles. Overseas, wealthy car collectors are known to occasionally offer a rare automobile or two to willing buyers. The reasons for selling vary, of course. Sometimes the seller just needs funds; at other times he just needs to clear space in his property.
Anyway, in the Philippines, the more popular kind of car auction is one organized by banks. You see, because banks in this country are way too lenient in providing financial assistance to car buyers—yes, even car buyers who really can’t afford monthly installments—they often end up having to repossess vehicles from clients who default on payments. You know the story: A modestly earning office employee gets enticed by the low-down-payment, zero-interest car promos, and then plunks down the requisite initial cash outlay. Problem is, said impulsive buyer does not take into serious consideration the burdensome monthly amortization. Before he knows it, he’s already behind on payments a couple of months. And then one morning, he finds himself helplessly watching his new sedan being sequestrated by agents of the lending bank.