PEZA Taps Twala to Streamline Economic Zone Operations with Tamper-proof and Secure Electronic Signatures

Manila, Philippines - May 30, 2025 - (May 27, 2025, Pasay City) – The Philippine Economic Zone Authority (PEZA) has officially partnered with Twala, a DOST-backed legaltech startup pioneering blockchain-based digital solutions, to advance its digital transformation initiatives. The partnership was formalized through a ceremonial signing held at the PEZA Head Office in Pasay City.

Leading the ceremonial signing was PEZA Director General Tereso O. Panga, alongside Twala Co-Founder and General Counsel Atty. Herminio "Third" C. Bagro III, and key officials from both organizations.

Through this partnership, PEZA will integrate Twala Sign into its operations—leveraging the platform’s tamper-proof electronic signature and intelligent document capabilities to promote ease of doing business and operational efficiency across its ecozones. Twala Sign, backed by advanced cryptographic technology, provides strong data integrity, streamlined workflows, and full compliance with Philippine regulations on electronic transactions and data privacy.

PEZA Director General Tereso O. Panga emphasized that this initiative supports the agency’s goals of ease of doing business, green governance, and investor confidence.

“By adopting Twala, we are not only embracing secure and efficient digital workflows, but we are also taking a meaningful step toward reducing paper use across our operations. We are especially proud to be using a Filipino-developed technology that meets global standards in digital security and innovation. This partnership strengthens PEZA’s commitment to sustainability, transparency, and investor trust,” said DG Panga.

The initial pilot implementation of Twala in PEZA will cover six units, which collectively consumed over 49,000 sheets of paper in 2024. By shifting these units to secure digital signatures, PEZA expects to dramatically cut down on paper consumption, printing costs, and courier expenses—all while accelerating internal processing times.

Atty. Bagro emphasized the importance of digilegal strength and reliability of Twala’s platform. “Twala is proud to support PEZA’s commitment to modernizing public service delivery through secure and efficient digital signing technology. By enabling trusted digital transactions, we aim to help PEZA improve turnaround times, reduce paper-based processes, and ultimately deliver more responsive services to its locators and stakeholders.

This collaboration is a strong example of how government and local tech startups can work hand-in-hand to build a smarter, more resilient bureaucracy—one that keeps pace with the demands of a digital economy. We thank PEZA for their trust in Twala, and we look forward to supporting their efforts to embrace innovation in the years ahead.”

This collaboration adds to Twala’s growing list of engagements with government agencies and institutions, including the Anti-Red Tape Authority (ARTA), the Philippine Senate, the Supreme Court, DOST-ASTI, DOST-ITDI, DOST-PCIEERD, the Philippine Science High School, and the Department of Information and Communications Technology (DICT). All these partnerships share a common goal: to accelerate digital transformation, improve service delivery, and build trust in digital governance.

Supported by the DOST-PCIEERD Startup Grant Fund, Twala continues to develop technologies that drive public sector innovation, including digital identity, e-notarization, and smart contracts. The PEZA partnership marks another milestone in Twala’s mission to empower government agencies with tools for secure, efficient, and future-ready digital transactions.

This initiative aligns with President Ferdinand Marcos Jr.’s call for the full digitalization of government services to improve regulatory efficiency and responsiveness.

With this pioneering move, PEZA became the first investment promotion agency in the Philippines to adopt a blockchain-based digital identity platform—setting the standard for secure, sustainable, and future-ready governance in the public sector.

As the Philippines accelerates its journey toward digitalization, the PEZA-Twala partnership serves as a powerful model for how government institutions can embrace emerging technologies to better serve the public—smarter, safer, and more efficiently.