Senator Joel Villanueva has called on banks to strictly implement the Bangko Sentral ng Pilipinas’ (BSP) decision on waiving digital fund transfer fees alongside its loan relief measures for borrowers hit by the ongoing energy crisis.

Villanueva, chairman of the Senate Committee on Banks, Financial Institutions and Currencies, called the BSP’s move a timely intervention and a preview of what permanent policy reform should look like.

“The BSP is doing exactly what a responsible central bank should do in a crisis, making it easier, not harder, for ordinary Filipinos to move money,” Villanueva said.

“We cannot keep relying on emergency waivers and moral suasion. Consumers deserve protection that does not disappear when the crisis passes,” he added.

The BSP earlier issued Monetary Board Resolution No. 296, dated April 8, 2026, authorizing banks to extend loan payment grace periods of up to six months for borrowers materially affected by the State of National Energy Emergency declared on March 24, 2026.

The resolution gives agricultural borrowers even greater breathing room as loan payments may be deferred for up to one year, subject to bank assessment. To prevent a wave of technical defaults, affected loans may also be temporarily excluded from past due and non-performing loan classifications for up to one year.

Together with the loan relief, the BSP urged banks and e-money service providers to temporarily suspend fees and charges on online banking platforms, including InstaPay and PESONet electronic fund transfers.

The BSP deemed it necessary after noting that lower-cost digital transactions reduce the need for consumers to physically travel to banks and payment centers during the emergency.

It was that last measure that drew Villanueva's sharpest reaction. The senator said the BSP's appeal to banks, which the regulator framed as an urgent but voluntary gesture, exposed exactly the gap that existing policy has never closed.

“Every time there is a crisis — a pandemic, an oil shock — the BSP scrambles to convince banks to waive transfer fees, and banks treat it as optional. That is the gap we need to close,” Villanueva said.