The Committee on Senior Citizens of the House of Representatives has underscored the urgency of revisiting the implementation of the Bank Secrecy Act and two other laws heavily relied upon to protect financial transactions.

Committee chairperson and United Seniors Partylist Rep. Milagros Aquino-Magsaysay made this proposal as she lamented that elderly citizens have continued to become victims of monetary scams, mostly committed via the cyberspace.

Aquino-Magsaysay lamented that notwithstanding the provisions of the said laws that are aimed at protecting the public and financial institutions, fraudsters have continued to find ways in victimizing the public.

She said the implementation of Republic Act No. 12010 or the Anti-Financial Account Scamming Act (AFASA) and RA 11934 or the SIM Card Registration Act of 2022 require immediate review despite the fact that these are relatively new laws.

In concluding the committee inquiry into the case of Albert Contreras, the senior lawmaker vowed to prioritize measures that would protect senior citizens like him from becoming sitting ducks targeted by scammers.



Contreras, a senior citizen from Quezon City, lost nearly all of his lifetime savings after being tricked by a fake Social Security System mobile application last year.

Akbayan Partylist Rep. Perci Cendaña brought Contreras’ case to the attention of the Lower House in a privilege speech delivered last year.

Aquino-Magsaysay said the Contreras case illustrated the “devastating impacts of fraudulent schemes” made on senior citizens, with the victim losing millions of pesos after scammers drained his accounts in BPI, BDO, GCash and Landbank in less than two hours.

According to Aquino-Magsaysay, the cyber swindling has also exposed the “significant gaps in institutional responses, coordinations, and consumer protection mechanisms.”

There is urgency in further make secure the financial system of the country in order to likewise protect the public against fraudulent transactions.

She lamented that scammers are currently able to exploit the Bank Secrecy Act and Data Privacy Act of 2012 in carrying out their illegal activities.

The partylist lawmaker noted that the said laws were intended to “protect the depositors” yet its provisions are used to shield the predators from being held liable.

“This haring, unraveled among others, that despite registration , scam persist,” said Aquino-Magsaysay, referring to the SIM Card Registration law.

On the AFASA, the lady solon stressed that “interbank and iner-agency coordination needs further improvements.”