Lawmakers Push for “Bangko Sa Baryo” Bill

Camarines Sur lawmakers are strongly advocating for congressional approval of a law that would allow an estimated 10 million to 34 million unbanked Filipinos, specifically those in far-flung barrios that lack access to banking presence, to open bank accounts.

National Unity Party (NUP) President Luis Raymund F. Villafuerte is one out of four authors of the “Bangko sa Baryo Act,” or House Bill (HB) 273. Villafuerta1 has said that “the swift legislative approval of this measure would go a long way for the 19th Congress to achieve the “lofty, complementary goals of bridging the country’s digital divide and attaining financial inclusion for all Filipinos.”

Villafuerte also says that the huge “disconnect” following digital financial services in the Philippines is “borne out by the reality that despite the dramatic increase in online or e-payments, particularly in the last two years under the Covid-19 pandemic, an estimated low of almost 10 million to a high of over 34 million Filipinos have no bank accounts yet, apparently because of our leave-much-to-be-desired digital infrastructure coupled with the dearth of banks, especially in remote barrios across the country.”

“It is imperative for us legislators to address this digital disconnect by passing HB 273 in the House and a counterpart bill in the Senate to establish soon enough a banking presence all over the country,” he adds.

According to Villafuerte, this would support the financial inclusion goals and digital transformation of the Digital Payments Transformation Roadmap (DPTR) of the Bangko Sentral ng Pilipinas (BSP).

Source: Business Mirror