The House plenary. (Ellson Quismorio/ MANILA BULLETIN)

The archaic, 111-year-old Warehouse Receipts Law is now one step closer to being updated.

This, after the House of Representatives approved on third and final reading House Bill (HB) No. 198 or the Revised Warehouse Receipts Law of the Philippines. The measure seeks to amend and modernize the Warehouse Receipts Law of 1912 or Republic Act (RA) No. 2137.

Deputy Speaker and Cebu 5th district Rep. Vincent Franco "Duke" Frasco, who presided over plenary session Monday, May 29, bared after nominal voting that the measure received 284 "yes" votes.

There were neither "no" votes nor abstentions to the bill, which takes advantage of modern technological advancement to establish a system that is more secure, reliable, and functional for the benefit of stakeholders.

“With the fast-changing times, many of our laws do not respond to the needs of the people in the present day. One of them is the Warehouse Receipts Law of 1912. Certainly, many of the conditions prevalent over 111 years ago do not exist today, and amending the law is of paramount importance,” Speaker Martin Romualdez said in a statement.

“We envision this measure to help farmers, agricultural workers and those in the sector of agriculture obtain greater access to credit by revising and modernizing the law. The House of Representatives has spent sufficient time deliberating on this and I am confident we crafted an outstanding measure,” added the Leyte 1st district congressman.

The bill seeks to promote economic activity by increasing access – particularly for entities engaged in agricultural activities such as farming – to the least cost of credit through the establishment of a simplified, unified and modern warehouse receipts framework for the storage of goods in warehouses and the succeeding trading of interests therein.

The existing law prescribes a relatively simple way for farmers or agricultural workers to secure credit by storing their goods in a warehouse and trading the receipt thereof. HB No.198 seeks to modernize this.

Among its key provisions include the establishment of a central electronic registry under the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) for all warehouse receipts that should be made available online.

This will guarantee a faster and simpler way for farmers and agricultural entities to convert goods and products into credit.

The bill also provides that warehouse receipts may only be issued by a duly authorized warehouse operator and that the warehouse receipt must contain certain details such as the location of the warehouse, date of issue, description of the goods contained and others.

The SEC is also designated as the regulatory agency governing all matters related to warehouse receipts, including the accreditation of warehouse operators and warehouses.

Moreover, HB No.198 also defines and distinguishes what constitutes as a negotiable and non-negotiable receipt.

Reps. Jurdin Jesus Romualdo, Linabelle Ruth Villarica, Carl Nicolas Cari, Bernadette Herrera, LRay Villafuerte, Rufus Rodriguez, and Salvador Pleyto are among the authors of the bill.