[Op-Ed] Paul Soliman: A New Funding Engine for the Philippines might be RWA

The Philippines is positioning itself to leverage Real-World Asset (RWA) tokenization to bridge significant capital gaps in infrastructure, agriculture, and small business financing. By utilizing the existing Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) Crypto-Asset Service Provider (CASP) framework, the country aims to create a regulated environment for digitizing traditional assets like real estate, invoices, and renewable energy projects. Tokenization allows for the fractionalization of these assets, enabling a broader range of investors, including overseas workers and local cooperatives, to participate in economic development. This shift moves beyond traditional paper-heavy processes, offering increased transparency, faster settlement, and improved access to working capital for micro, small, and medium enterprises (MSMEs). While the CASP framework provides a foundational regulatory base, the article emphasizes that further RWA-specific clarity is required to define how tokenized securities and debt instruments are issued and custodied. Ultimately, this transition could mobilize idle savings into productive national projects, fostering more inclusive growth across the archipelago. The success of this initiative depends on balancing technological innovation with robust investor protections and clear legal enforceability.