MANILA – A Senate bill seeking to create a government panel that will educate and protect senior citizens from cybercrimes and other scams has been filed.
Senate Bill No. 671 or the “Senior Citizens’ Fraud Education Act,” proposed filed by Sen. Jinggoy Estrada, states that the Department of Trade and Industry (DTI) will lead a panel with members from the Department of Justice (DOJ) and the Philippine Postal Corporation to disseminate scam-related information via mail, telemarketing and online platforms.
“Walang manloloko kung walang magpapaloko, at walang mabibiktima kung sila ay may alam sa mga istilo ng mga scammers,” Estrada said in a statement.
(There will be no scammers if there are no victims, and there will be no victims if they are aware of the styles of these scammers.)
The measure is needed as most of the victims of recent scams are senior citizens who lack knowledge about social media and technology, he said.
The proposed law mandates the government to create a website that will contain necessary information about scams linked to financial products and services, text scams, and other fraudulent modus.
The DTI is also expected to work with the National Commission of Senior Citizens and the Office of Senior Citizens Affairs (OSCA), as well as the Bangko Sentral ng Pilipinas (BSP), Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC), Insurance Commission (IC), National Telecommunications Commission (NTC), National Bureau of Investigation (NBI), and Philippine National Police (PNP) for the information campaign designed for the elderly.
Source: ABS-CBN News