Notice to the Public: Benefit Credit Coin – Philippine Global Coin
This refers to the information circulating online about the Philippine Global Coin (PGC), which purports to be a virtual currency to be issued and administered by the Philippine Government, through the Bangko Sentral ng Pilipinas (Central Bank of the Philippines or BSP), and the Benefit Credit Coin (BCC), under the Digital Currency Co., Ltd., which claims to have entered into partnership with the Senate of the Philippines.
In response to inquiries received from the general public in Japan, the Embassy sought clarifications from the concerned Philippine government agencies.
The Bangko Sentral ng Pilipinas denies entering into an agreement with Digital Currency Co., Ltd. and also denies issuance of the PGC/BCC on behalf of the Philippine government.
Likewise, the Senate of the Philippines wholly denies the existence of supposed partnership with the Digital Currency Co., Ltd. and firmly denounces any and all claims of Senate participation in such venture. The photograph of alleged company representatives’ meeting with Senate President Pimentel in November 2017 was only a memento of their courtesy call on the Senator.
The Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) of the Philippines issued an advisory informing the public that the Digital Currency Co., Ltd. is not registered with the SEC either as a corporation or partnership. This Digital Currency Co., Ltd. is not authorized to solicit investments from the public as it has not secured the necessary license or permit from the SEC.
In light of these findings, the public is requested to be vigilant in engaging in digital financial transactions and is urged to check websites of relevant government agencies in the Philippines such as the BSP (http://www.bsp.gov.ph/) and the SEC (http://www.sec.gov.ph/).
