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President Rodrigo Roa Duterte speaks with the people after holding a meeting with key members of the Interagency Working Group on Emerging Infectious Diseases (IATF-EID) at the Malacañang Golf (Malago) Clubhouse in Malacañang Park, Manila, the October 14, 2020. ROBINSON NIÑAL / PRESIDENTIAL PHOTO
MANILA, Philippines – President Rodrigo Duterte has certified as urgent the approval of bills that will guarantee the resilience of the Philippine financial sector amid the 2019 coronavirus disease (COVID-19) pandemic and strengthen the Law against Money Laundering.
In a letter to Senate President Vicente “Tito” Sotto III on Friday, Duterte certified Senate Bill No. 1849 or the proposed Financial Institutions Strategic Transfer Act (FIST) as urgent.
This bill seeks to help banks and financial institutions by allowing them to ditch bad loans in an attempt to cushion the economic impact of the COVID-19 pandemic.
Duterte said the bill “will strengthen financial initiatives towards the recovery of the national economy and maintain the stability of the financial sector amid COVID-19.”
The FIST bill is currently endorsed for plenary approval in the Senate.
The Senate Building at the GSIS Complex in Pasay City. (Photo by LYN RILLON / Philippine Daily Inquirer)
Meanwhile, the President also certified as urgent Senate Bill No. 1412 and its counterpart in the House, House Bill No. 6174, which seeks to strengthen the Republic Law 9160 or the “Anti-Money Laundering Law 2001 Money ”.
“Such compliance will avoid adverse findings against the country that could lead, among others, to higher costs of doing financial transactions, to the detriment of the business sector and our Filipino workers abroad,” Duterte said in letters sent to Sotto and the House of Representatives. . Speaker Lord Allan Velasco.
Previously, Duterte certified as urgent a bill that seeks to empower the country’s executive president to expedite the issuance of licenses and permits in times of national emergencies.
The Senate version of the bill passed in third reading on Wednesday.
Meanwhile, the House counterpart bill was passed on Friday.
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