Sen. Sherwin Gatchalian has formalized his proposal to provide each Filipino with one bank account to easily access the financial services of the government beginning Jan. 1, 2023.
Gatchalian has filed the proposed "One Filipino, One Bank Account Act" which seeks to mandate the opening of a bank account for Filipino citizens who have registered with the Philippine Identification System or PhilSys to obtain a national ID.
"Sa panukalang 'One Filipino, One Bank Account Act', lahat ng walang bank account ay siguradong magkakaroon na, basta may national ID," he said.
"Hindi na nila kailangang pumila pa para makakuha ng ayuda mula sa gobyerno dahil ilalagak na lamang sa naturang bank account ang ayuda at iba pang tulong pinansyal ng ating pamahalaan," he said.
Under the bill, the Land Bank of the Philippines and the Development Bank of the Philippines will automatically open and maintain a bank account for Filipino citizens who have successfully registered with PhilSys upon presentation of the national ID.
Those who have yet to register with PhilSys by Jan. 1, 2023 only need to go to the nearest LandBank or DBP branch and present a valid government-issued ID to secure a bank account. The bank account shall be automatically linked with PhilSys upon successful registration.
Meanwhile, the bank accounts of minors and persons who are incapacitated will be opened and linked to those of their parents, legal guardians or persons exercising substitute parental authority, as the case may be.
A financial inclusion survey conducted by the Bangko Sentral ng Pilipinas in 2019 showed that some 51.2 million Filipino adults don't own a bank account, with lack of enough money as the top reason.
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