NBI cannot examine Bautista's bank accounts sans authority from court, says Drilon

The National Bureau of Investigation (NBI) has no authority to examine the bank accounts of individuals without securing a court order, Senate Minority Leader Franklin Drilon said Wednesday, amid the ongoing investigation on the alleged ill-gotten wealth of Commission on Elections (Comelec) chairman Andres Bautista.

During the hearing of the Senate Committee on Banks, Financial Institutions and Currencies, NBI’s Anti-Fraud Division Executive Officer lawyer Minerva Retanal said they examined Bautista’s bank accounts based on the documents provided to their office.

But Drilon, a former Justice secretary, said the NBI has to get court authority to examine bank accounts as required under the bank secrecy law.

“The NBI, while it is an investigative agency, you cannot investigate any Tom, Dick and Harry. And very critical, you must not use the powers of the NBI to harass a citizen of this country,” Drilon said.

Drilon noted that the NBI is attached to a “political department,” as the secretary of the Department of Justice (DOJ) is a political appointee.

“I’m not saying that you should not investigate...I’m just saying that you comply with the bank secrecy law, which states that you get a court authority. If the NBI does not do that, let me put on record that you could be violating the bank secrecy law,” he said.

Drilon said securing authority from the court will “protect” the NBI.

Retanal explained that they are conducting their own investigation based on “the leads we have on hand.”

“We are actually investigating, conducting analysis based on the information or the evidence based on the documents at hand,” she said.

Senator Francis “Chiz” Escudero, chairman of the committee, disagreed with the point of view of Drilon. Both Escudero and Drilon are lawyers.

“I think the line will be crossed when they obligate, order, or coerce the bank to answer whatever questions they may have without securing first a court order to that effect,” Escudero said.

But Drilon said that the NBI may still violate the bank secrecy law even if they just literally look at the bank documents in their possession.

Bautista’s estranged wife, Patricia Paz Bautista, earlier claimed to have discovered nearly P1 billion in ill-gotten wealth belonging to her husband. The Comelec chair supposedly had 35 bank accounts with the LDB containing a total balance of P329,220,962.

During the hearing, Retanal said the NBI discovered that sequestered companies managed by the Presidential Commission on Good Government (PCGG) under Bautista also had accounts with the Luzon Development Bank (LDB).

The said accounts, she said, were opened in 2012 and closed “sometime” in 2016.

Bautista was appointed PCGG chairman in 2010. In 2015, he was appointed to chair the Comelec. —KBK, GMA News