Marcos OKs new laws to enhance procurement, fight online scams

MANILA, Philippines — President Ferdinand Marcos Jr. has signed into law two measures aimed at improving government procurement and enhancing financial security for Filipinos, the Presidential Communications Office (PCO) announced on Saturday.

The New Government Procurement Act (NGPA) and the Anti-Financial Account Scamming Act (AFASA) were officially enacted on Saturday.

The NGPA updates the Government Procurement Reform Act or Republic Act No. 1984.

Marcos said the NGPA law “streamlines the procurement process from three months to just 60 days by standardizing procurement forms and institutionalizing electronic procurement.”

According to the PCO, one of the NGPA's features includes 11 new procurement modalities "that will afford greater flexibility for government agencies in choosing the manner of acquiring the best goods and services."

It also introduces new ways for agencies to buy goods and services and replaces the old “Lowest Calculated and Responsive Bid” system with the “Most Economically Advantageous Responsive Bid.”

“This frees us from the obligation of selecting the lowest-priced bid when there is a better choice. This will ensure that we get not only the best prices but the best deals for our clients, the Filipino people,” Marcos said in his speech.

The NGPA also requires better planning for procurement and includes green practices to address environmental concerns.

The AFASA, on the other hand, aims to combat the rising tide of online financial scams. 

The law mandates financial institutions to implement stronger safeguards to protect Filipino financial accounts, the PCO said. 

The AFASA also criminalizes activities such as money muling (a type of money laundering) and social engineering schemes and grants the Bangko Sentral ng Pilipinas (BSP) authority to probe financial accounts involved in illegal activities.

“It will protect our people from falling prey to perpetrators who target their banks and e-wallet accounts…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.

The central bank welcomed AFASA, with BSP Gov. Eli Remolona Jr. praising the new law for boosting consumer protection and fostering trust and confidence in the Philippine financial system.

Data from the Philippine National Police recorded 19,000 cybercrimes in 2023, marking a 68.98% increase compared to 2022.

The majority of these cases were online scams, totaling 14,030 incidents. This represents an increase of 7,208 cases or 94.64% from the previous year.

Marcos signed the two laws days before his third State of the Nation Address on Monday.