The Commission on Human Rights (CHR) supports Senate Bill No. 2287 on the "Financial Products and Services Consumer Protection Act" to protect consumers of financial products and services.

Filed by Sen. Sherwin “Win” Gatchalian, SB 2287 “aims to institutionalize proper mechanisms to protect the interest of consumers while balancing the same with the furtherance of conduct of business of financial service providers.”

If the bill becomes a law, it will protect the rights of consumers to equitable and fair treatment, to disclosure and transparency of financial products and services, against fraud and misuse, to data privacy and protection, and to timely handling and redress of complaints.

In a statement, CHR Spokesperson Jacqueline Ann de Guia said that it is high time to ensure that there is an enabling law that affords additional protection to Filipino consumers who fall prey to exploitative entities due to lack of access to financial and digital information.

“Such unfortunate events demand further regulation of financial consumer protection compliance,” she said.

Because of the recent growth of financial products and services in the country, specifically in the digital environment, the government must enact a legislation that would safeguard financial consumers’ rights against fraud and other unscrupulous activities, she pointed out.

At the same time, De Guia said the CHR also supports the institutionalization of a protection mechanism that allows consumers both to know and to assert their rights, and to have their complaints addressed and resolved in a transparent and just way.

She said: “through this proposed bill, the Commission also underscores the rights of Filipinos to disclosure and transparency of financial products and services; data privacy and protection; and timely handling of redress of complaints.”

“Now that we are still in the middle of a pandemic and a lot of people are experiencing the economic impact caused by COVID-19, the Commission emphasizes the timely passage of this legislation to put an end to exploitative practices that further bury Filipinos into deeper financial hardships,” she stressed.

She added the government agencies should boost their educational efforts to raise the financial and digital literacies of the Filipino public to avoid being victimized by “unfair and abusive transactions.”