On Saturday, President Ferdinand Marcos Jr. signed two bills aimed at safeguarding the Filipino people’s welfare and strengthening government practices into law.
In a ceremony at the Malacañang Palace, Marcos signed Republic Act No. 12009, the New Government Procurement Act (NGPA), and Republic Act No. 12010, or the Anti-Financial Account Scamming Act (AFASA).
Its signing signifies the government’s aim in addressing the current crises in the nation. The NGPA is a compiled version of the other Senate bills with the same goal—to address the loopholes and weaknesses in the government procurement system. It also offers government agencies more flexibility when it comes to goods and services.
Its new concept considers the qualitative and economic value of a proposal, or the “most economically advantageous responsive bid” over the “lowest calculated and responsive bid.”
Moreover, the NGPA also includes the practice of providing solutions to pollution and climate change.
Meanwhile, AFASA aims to curb the continual surge of online scams. Financial institutions are required to implement necessary actions to protect their clients’ accounts. Along with the implementation of stricter rules, the law also defines and penalizes those involved in money schemes and illegal activities. The Bangko Sentral ng Pilipinas is authorized to probe and inquire into financial accounts that are possibly involved in such acts.
Marcos encouraged the Senate to continue passing “progressive, innovative, and people-centered laws” as it fosters great trust and confidence in the Philippine financial system.
“I hope that, through this law, we can deter the majority of the financial scams that we have been seeing while at the same time fostering greater trust in our digitization efforts,” Marcos said.
