House Majority Leader Ilocos Norte 1st district Rep. Sandro Marcos hailed the second-reading passage of the proposed eBayad Act, which, upon enactment, would mandate digital payments in all government transactions.

“Hindi dapat nauubos ang oras ng tao sa pila at pabalik-balik na transaksiyon (People's time shouldn't be wasted on queues and repeated transactions). Through the eBayad bill, we are building a government that delivers faster, cleaner, and more convenient transactions for ordinary Filipinos,” Marcos said in a statement on Thursday, March 12.

Given penultimate passage by the House of Representatives during the marathon plenary session the previous night was House Bill (HB) No. 8468. The approval was carried out via simple voice vote (ayes vs. nayes).

The measure espouses a shift to making payments and collections in safe digital channels. This will make making public transactions faster, more transparent, and easier for ordinary Filipinos.

Marcos said proposed eBayad Act answers the day-to-day problem that many Filipinos feel: delays, long lines, and cash-only systems that make even the most basic transactions harder than they should be.

He says HB No.8568 is part of the Legislative-Executive Development Advisory Council’s (LEDAC) Common Legislative Agenda--essentially, the administration’s priority legislation.

Marcos credited the House under the leadership of Speaker Faustino “Bojie” Dy III in keepimg a steady pace in moving priority reforms from committee work to plenary action.

Manila 5th district Rep. Irwin Tieng, chairmam of the House Committee on Banks and Financial Intermediaries, sponsored and defended the measure in plenary.

“The proposed measure, entitled eBayad Act seeks to institutionalize the use of safe and efficient digital payment systems in financial transactions of the government and merchants. This initiative aligns with the State’s policy in promoting ease of doing business, financial inclusion, and technological innovation in public service delivery,” Tieng said in his sponsorship speech.

“As government and private transactions increasingly move online, the bill seeks to establish clear standards that ensure faster, safer, and more transparent financial processes. Digital payments for government disbursements and collections will reduce delays, minimize risks from cash handling, and enhance compliance with auditing and accounting rules,” he said.

To make the shift workable on the ground, the measure authorizes covered agencies to directly send funds to a recipient’s account through automatic debit arrangements, interoperable electronic fund transfers or other facilities of government-serving payment service providers, so assistance and payments can reach people with fewer steps.

On the collection side, the bill will require covered agencies to offer digital collection as a mode for taxes, tolls, imposts and other revenues, including non-income collections and receipts, while keeping cash as an option, and it also recognizes electronic official invoices or receipts as valid proof of payment, subject to existing accounting, audit and tax rules.

To keep procurement disciplined and consistent across government, the bill creates a steering committee chaired by the Bangko Sentral ng Pilipinas (BSP], with key agencies as members, to guide implementation, promote cost-efficiency and transparency in acquiring digital payment solutions and resolve issues that may arise as agencies transition to digital systems.

The measure also gives local government units (LGUs) a role in accelerating adoption among merchants by mandating them to craft ordinances that provide monetary or non-monetary incentives, including reduced fees or other support, and to extend assistance especially to small and micro-merchants like market vendors, tricycle operators and food stalls so they can accept digital payments without being left behind.

To encourage wider use while keeping costs fair, the bill directs the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) and the Bureau of Internal Revenue (BIR) to craft incentive programs that promote digital payments, prescribes graduated pricing or outright exemption for micropayments as may be set by the BSP in consultation with stakeholders, and mandates the BSP to formulate a multi-year roadmap aligned with the e-government masterplan, with targets and outcomes for at least five years.

The bill sets a transition period of up to three years, with tiering guidelines to reflect agency capacity, while placing heavy emphasis on security by requiring that data, information and ICT systems used for digital payments be protected at all times, and by laying out duties for payment service providers on security, data privacy, cooperation with Commission on Audit (COA) post-audits and compliance with payment system agreements.

Violations of the measure, its implementing rules and BSP directives will carry penalties, including fines ranging from P200,000 to P2 million and imprisonment of two to 10 years, or both, without prejudice to sanctions under the National Payment Systems Act, while COA will issue pertinent rules for post-audit of digital payments involving government transactions.