Senator Joel Villanueva has filed a bill seeking to guarantee financial relief for borrowers, depositors, and digital payment users during national emergencies by giving the Bangko Sentral ng Pilipinas (BSP) authority to compel banks and other financial institutions to comply with emergency measures.

Villanueva, chairman of the Senate Committee on Banks, filed Senate Bill No. 2121 or the “Emergency Financial Stability and Consumer Protection Act,” which would authorize the BSP to issue mandatory directives once a national emergency is declared and the Monetary Board determines that extraordinary regulatory intervention is necessary.

Under the proposal, the BSP may require mandatory grace periods, payment deferrals, loan restructuring accommodations, and other consumer assistance programs for borrowers during emergencies.

The bill would also allow the central bank to suspend or waive fees on electronic payment channels, including InstaPay and PESONet, and impose temporary limits on financial transactions when necessary to preserve systemic stability.

“The BSP's job is to keep the financial system stable and protect the Filipino public, especially during a crisis. But we cannot ask the BSP to do its job and then leave it without the tools to do so,” Villanueva said in a statement. “This bill gives the BSP the authority it needs to act and to enforce.”

According to Villanueva, the bill addresses gaps exposed during the COVID-19 pandemic and the recent State of National Energy Emergency, when the BSP could only encourage financial institutions to extend relief measures because it lacked legal authority to mandate compliance.

During the pandemic, the BSP issued relief guidance encouraging banks to provide payment accommodations and waive certain fees, but compliance varied among financial institutions.

The same issue resurfaced during the energy emergency last month, when the BSP authorized financial institutions to extend support measures but remained unable to require uniform implementation.

“Voluntary compliance is not good enough when Filipinos are struggling to keep the lights on, pay their loans, and put food on the table,” Villanueva said. “The public deserves a guarantee, not a request.”

The measure covers all BSP-supervised financial institutions, including banks, quasi-banks, electronic money issuers, payment system operators, and other entities under the central bank’s regulatory authority.

The bill also requires the BSP to ensure that emergency measures are reasonable, targeted, and time-bound, while considering their possible effects on banks, payment system operators, consumers, and the broader financial system.

To prevent overreach, the proposal states that no directive may remain in force beyond 180 days after the termination of a declared emergency unless extended by law.

It also provides that emergency measures must be temporary, proportionate, and strictly necessary, and may not permanently impair vested rights or contractual obligations beyond what the emergency requires.

Financial institutions that comply in good faith would be protected from civil, administrative, or criminal liability arising solely from compliance, except in cases involving fraud, gross negligence, or willful misconduct.

Meanwhile, institutions that fail to comply may face enforcement action under existing banking laws, including administrative fines, cease-and-desist orders, and suspension of responsible directors and officers.

The bill likewise requires the BSP to submit a report to Congress within 60 days after the end of an emergency detailing the measures implemented, their economic and financial impact, enforcement actions taken, and recommendations for future crisis preparedness.

“When the next crisis comes—and it will come—the BSP should not have to beg. It should be ready to act, and Filipinos should know that relief from their bank is on the way,” Villanueva said.