Inclusion of DOLE, BIR in cryptocurrency task force pushed

MANILA, Philippines – Senator Francis Tolentino has recommended the inclusion of two government agencies to a task force that will regulate the issuance and use of cryptocurrency and digital currency in the country.

Tolentino proposed the inclusion of the Department of Labor and Employment (DOLE) and the Bureau of Internal Revenue (BIR) amid talks of forming a cryptocurrency task force which will be composed of the Bangko Sentral ng Pilipinas (BSP), Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC), Insurance Commission (IC), Philippine Deposit Insurance Corporation (PDIC) and Cagayan Economic Zone Authority (CEZA).

While Tolentino recognized the benefits of cryptocurrency to Filipinos, he pointed out concerns that may arise from it, including fraud.

“There are benefits to allowing the use of these currencies in the country as they provide Filipinos access to the global market, banking services to underserved citizens, and ease in making cheaper remittances to and from abroad for international corporations as well as from overseas Filipinos,” Tolentino said in a statement on Tuesday.

He stressed that there is a need to include DOLE in the cryptocurrency task force in the works,“so that the OFWs, who are vulnerable to scams, can be properly informed and protected.”

Tolentino also proposed the inclusion of the Bureau of Internal Revenue (BIR) to the task force “to study how the operations involving cryptocurrency will be subject to taxation.” /gsg