leading indicator for actual investments, two or more years down the road. 1 / 7 bis central bankers'speeches the passage of create is expected to help attract more investments, both foreign and local, moving forward. further, investment pledges with the board of investments increased by 65. 6 % percent in q1 2021 and with the philippine economic zone authority ( peza ) by 53. 9 % percent in q1 2021 from a year ago. as you know, investment approvals are a good leading indicator for actual investments, two or more years down the road. the passage of create is expected to help attract more investments, both foreign and local, moving forward. further, investment pledges with the board of investments increased by 65. 6 % percent in q1 2021 and with the philippine economic zone authority ( peza ) by 53. 9 % percent in q1 2021 from a year ago. as you know, investment approvals are a good leading indicator for actual investments, two or more years down the road. the passage of create is expected to help attract more investments, both foreign and local, moving forward. trade has picked up. in the first four months of this year, exports and imports expanded by 19 percent and 21. 9 percent, respectively, from the same period last year. meanwhile business confidence weakened for q2 and q3 2021, primarily due to concerns on the surge of covid - 19 cases in march and april this year. country ’ s consumer sentiment, on the other hand, continued to improve citing expectations of more jobs and permanent employment, additional / higher income as government continues to ease mobility restrictions amidst accelerated vaccine rollout and the sustained implementation of measures to address the challenges from the pandemic. remittances jumped by 4. 8 percent for the first four months of the year from a year ago. this highlights the sustained resilience of overseas filipino remittances. last year, they declined by a mere 0. 8 percent versus the double - digit decline projected by private sector analysts. the contraction in our gross domestic product ( gdp ) is on a decline, and according to the national economic and development authority ( neda ), we an look forward to a positive gdp growth in the second quarter of this year despite the stricter quarantine restrictions due to the recent virus surge. crisis response from the bsp going into the crisis, the philippines had ample fiscal and monetary buffers to deal with shocks — and these have been used extensively

amando m tetangco, jr : security management – a challenging balancing act speech by mr amando m tetangco, jr, governor of the central bank of the philippines ( bangko sentral ng pilipinas ), at the bank security management association, inc. ( bsma ) induction, central bank of the philippines, manila, 16 january 2009. * * * the officers and directors of the bank security management association, inc. ( bsma ) led by president edwin ermita, special guests, fellow central bankers, good morning. i am very pleased to meet the leadership of the bank security management association and engage you in a dialogue. you and the members bsma are responsible for providing the highest level of protection to philippine banking institutions in general and to bank employees and clients in particular. for the bangko sentral ng pilipinas therefore, you represent a vital component of our continuing efforts to ensure the health and stability of our banking system. through the years, securing a bank has evolved from the traditional watchdog concept to the use of state - of - the - art security devices and gadgets. given the rising violence we have seen in recent bank robberies, you have to ensure that you develop in parallel with your operating environment. your additional challenge is to provide effective security to bank properties and most especially to the people within your premises while making sure that customers do not feel intimated or threatened by security personnel. you and i know that bank clients are civilians who are not used to armed personnel. therefore, they may complain or, worse, move their account if they feel that your security men are somewhat threatening. i know it is easier said than done but your objective should be for security personnel to remain courteous while being visible, firm, and alert as security personnel. director ed gatumbato, the head of bangko sentral ’ s security department, is constantly challenged by this balancing act. i am sure you will have a lot to talk about. last year, september 3 to be exact, i signed bangko sentral ng pilipinas ( bsp ) circular 620, the revised rules and regulations on bank protection pursuant to monetary board resolution no. 1057 dated august 14, 2008. the objective of this circular is to strengthen and broaden the security of banks to cover not only physical security but also on other crimes perpetrated against the banking institutions such as external and internal frauds, cash in transit operations as well as the conduct