It is only right for the government to do so.

Why should only foreign banks and other financial institutions benefit from high-yield, zero-risk government IOUs?

In fact, tax-paying citizens should not only have the right to be able to invest in government securities. They should have the first priority to do so.    

Buying bonds is a patriot act that is also profitable. The issuance of such promisssory notes is mutually beneficial to both issuer and note holder: The government raises cash to finance development projects and the note buyer earns guaranteed interest rate on state-secured investment.      

Like it or not, there are conservative investors who seek safe havens wherein to park their hard-earned money. These are the kinds of individuals who value stability and security for their savings.And Treasury bills, notes, and bonds are their best options.            

This menu of debt instruments would soon be available to them as the government announced it may sell 15-year peso bonds to individuals for the first time to take advantage of the biggest slide in long-term yields in a year.

Deputy Treasurer Eduardo Mendiola said the government may include the notes along with 10-year debt in this year’s second offering of retail Treasury bonds that may open as early as in October.

Mendiola said the government raised almost P104 billion at the last sale of such securities in March and is seeking approval to borrow up to P500 billion more.

“The government is being opportunistic with the low interest-rate environment, and if the 15-year tenor pushes through, it will give the market more options for longer-term investment,” a top commercial bank official was quoted in newspaper reports. “This will provide additional benchmarks for Philippine bonds.”

The yield on the 6.25-percent sovereign note due April 2021 has fallen 68 basis points, 0.68 percentage point, this quarter to 5.88 percent, according to Philippine Dealing and Exchange Corp. The rate is headed for the biggest quarterly decline in a year. Twenty-year bond yields slid 57 basis points to 7.65 percent, according to data compiled by a business news wire service.

The country has been tapping individuals for a decade to help fund a budget deficit that rose to a record P314.5 billion in 2010. The shortfall narrowed to P17.23 billion in the first half of this year, less than 10 percent of the size a year earlier as revenue rose while spending fell.

“Selling 15-year RTBs will be good,” Mendiola said. The government has not hired banks or sought offers from arrangers, the deputy treasurer said. Bonds are sold to individuals in denominations as low as P5,000.

The government is assessing the demand for long-dated securities before going ahead with the first local sale of 15-year notes, according to Treasurer Roberto Tan.

The government’s borrowing costs for three months to a year fell at an auction of Treasury bills Monday as investors bid for almost five times the amount offered. The yield of the 364-day bills fell to 1.5 percent, the lowest since the Bureau of the Treasury started offering the debt in 1987.