House bill seeks to expose foreign currency accounts under litigation
Amid the raging controversy on whether the Senate as the impeachment court can examine Chief Justice Renato Corona's foreign currency accounts, a party-list lawmaker filed a bill to amend the Foreign Currency Deposit Act.
House Bill No. 5809, filed by ACT Teachers Party-List Representative Antonio Tinio, seeks to amend Section 8 of Republic Act 6426 or the Foreign Currency Deposit Act which safeguards the confidential nature of such bank account.
The law states: "All foreign currency deposits... are hereby declared as and considered of an absolutely confidential nature and, except upon the written permission of the depositor, in no instance shall foreign currency deposits be examined, inquired or looked into by any person, government official, bureau or office whether judicial or administrative or legislative, or any other entity whether public or private; Provided, however, that said foreign currency deposits shall be exempt from attachment, garnishment, or any other order or process of any court, legislative body, government agency or any administrative body whatsoever."
HB 5809 will provide the exceptions for such accounts to be examined in public.
Allow inquiry and examination
It specifically seeks to allow the inquiry and examination of foreign currency deposits "upon the written permission of the depositor, or in cases of impeachment, or upon order of a competent court in cases of bribery or dereliction of duty of public officials, or in cases where the money deposited or invested is the subject matter of litigation."
It likewise seeks to remove the provision which exempts foreign currency deposits from "attachment, garnishment, or any other order or process of any court, legislative body, government agency or any administrative body whatsoever."
In explaining the rationale behind HB 5809, Tinio said in his note, "Subsequent developments have rendered obsolete these special protections provided by law to foreign currency deposits. While there may have been a relative scarcity of foreign currency in the domestic banking and financial system in the 1970s, this is clearly no longer the case today,".
He explained that the remittances of overseas Filipino workers, which reportedly reached over $18.3 billion in 2011, ensure that the country’s foreign exchange reserves are "at an all-time high."
Secrecy may be exploited
The lawmaker noted that "recent events" have shown how the absolute and "unqualified" secrecy of foreign currency deposits may be exploited to cloak financial transactions by individuals and entities involved in illegal activities.
"For instance, government officials, including those conferred with immunity from suit during their incumbency and removable only through impeachment, may make use of foreign currency deposits to amass ill-gotten wealth with the assurance that these will be virtually beyond the reach of the State," he said.
According to House prosecutors, Corona is supposedly maintaining dollar accounts in PSBank with an estimated balance of $700,000 or roughly P30 million.
But PSBank president Pascual Garcia III declined to divulge information on five dollar accounts supposedly under Corona’s name, saying it might expose him to criminal liability.
On Thursday, the Supreme Court issued a temporary restraining order to stop the Senate from scrutinizing in public the details of those dollar accounts. — VS, GMA News
House Bill No. 5809, filed by ACT Teachers Party-List Representative Antonio Tinio, seeks to amend Section 8 of Republic Act 6426 or the Foreign Currency Deposit Act which safeguards the confidential nature of such bank account.
The law states: "All foreign currency deposits... are hereby declared as and considered of an absolutely confidential nature and, except upon the written permission of the depositor, in no instance shall foreign currency deposits be examined, inquired or looked into by any person, government official, bureau or office whether judicial or administrative or legislative, or any other entity whether public or private; Provided, however, that said foreign currency deposits shall be exempt from attachment, garnishment, or any other order or process of any court, legislative body, government agency or any administrative body whatsoever."
HB 5809 will provide the exceptions for such accounts to be examined in public.
Allow inquiry and examination
It specifically seeks to allow the inquiry and examination of foreign currency deposits "upon the written permission of the depositor, or in cases of impeachment, or upon order of a competent court in cases of bribery or dereliction of duty of public officials, or in cases where the money deposited or invested is the subject matter of litigation."
It likewise seeks to remove the provision which exempts foreign currency deposits from "attachment, garnishment, or any other order or process of any court, legislative body, government agency or any administrative body whatsoever."
In explaining the rationale behind HB 5809, Tinio said in his note, "Subsequent developments have rendered obsolete these special protections provided by law to foreign currency deposits. While there may have been a relative scarcity of foreign currency in the domestic banking and financial system in the 1970s, this is clearly no longer the case today,".
He explained that the remittances of overseas Filipino workers, which reportedly reached over $18.3 billion in 2011, ensure that the country’s foreign exchange reserves are "at an all-time high."
Secrecy may be exploited
The lawmaker noted that "recent events" have shown how the absolute and "unqualified" secrecy of foreign currency deposits may be exploited to cloak financial transactions by individuals and entities involved in illegal activities.
"For instance, government officials, including those conferred with immunity from suit during their incumbency and removable only through impeachment, may make use of foreign currency deposits to amass ill-gotten wealth with the assurance that these will be virtually beyond the reach of the State," he said.
According to House prosecutors, Corona is supposedly maintaining dollar accounts in PSBank with an estimated balance of $700,000 or roughly P30 million.
But PSBank president Pascual Garcia III declined to divulge information on five dollar accounts supposedly under Corona’s name, saying it might expose him to criminal liability.
On Thursday, the Supreme Court issued a temporary restraining order to stop the Senate from scrutinizing in public the details of those dollar accounts. — VS, GMA News
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