A large take-up of stablecoins could replace sovereign money – a public good offered for centuries by the State to its citizens – with a “club good”, whereby payment services are offered to a select group of people in exchange for platform membership and personal data. This would not be acceptable.
Even as the government was preoccupied with pandemic response, three landmark laws that further open the Philippines to foreign investors have been enacted. These are the amended Retail Trade Liberalization Act, Foreign Investments Act, and Public Services Act. During the last six years, the Duterte administration invested heavily in infrastructure under its Build, Build, Build program.