MANILA, Philippines - The recent passage of the Cybercrime Prevention Act will haul in more global business for the country's Information Communication Technology (ICT) and Business Process Outsourcing (BPO) sectors.
The bill, meant to protect computer and computer systems, networks, and database from hacking, was passed on its 3rd and final reading at the Senate last January 29.
The House version of the bill is now at the committee level. It can be scheduled for bi-cameral deliberations after the House of Representatives passes the bill on final reading.
Once approved on bi-cam, President Benigno Aquino III has to sign the bill to enact it into law
"Its passage will be a great help in securing the operations and transactions of our clients," remarked Alfredo Ayala, Chairman of the 268-member Business Processing Association of the Philippines (BPAP).
"It's a big boost to our 2016 goal of providing jobs for 4 million Filipinos (1.3 million direct, jobs and over 2.7 million indirect jobs) and $25 billion in export revenues," added BPAP CEO Benedict Hernandez. "It will be key to providing our investors and customers with a sound business environment."
"We expect congressmen will be working double-time on the House version of the bill," noted BPAP Legislative Committee head Martin Crisostomo.
The private sector hopes the bill will be passed into law before the present Congress adjourns.
"We believe that our President and law makers from both see the urgent need to update our constitution to protect our industry and the Filipino people from cyber criminals and terrorists," BPAP officials underscored.
