Jinggoy Estrada files new motion to block AMLC report on his bank accounts

Detained Senator Jinggoy Estrada is trying to block anew the admission of the Anti-Money Laundering Council's (AMLC) inquiry report on his bank accounts and other assets as evidence of the prosecution for his plunder case in connection with the pork barrel fund scam.

 

In a 19-page motion for reconsideration (MR) filed on Tuesday, made available to the media on Wednesday, Estrada, through his legal counsel, asked the Sandiganbayan Fifth Division to overturn its Feb. 2 ruling junking his earlier motion to suppress the admission of the AMLC inquiry report as evidence.

 

In its ruling, the Fifth Division also allowed AMLC bank investigator Atty. Orlando Negradas Jr. to testify in a hearing on the contents of the AMLC report.

 

Estrada said the presentation of the AMLC report in an open court would violate his right to privacy as provided in the Constitution and in Republic Act 1405 or the Bank Secrecy Act.

 

"Because of the Bank Secrecy Act, the confidentiality of bank deposits remains a basic state policy in the Philippines. Subsequent laws including the AMLA (Anti-Money Laundering Act), may have added exceptions to the Bank Secrecy Act, yet the secrecy of bank deposits still lies as the general rule. It falls within the zones of privacy recognized by our laws," the motion read.

 

The Estrada camp added out that no provision in the Constitution mandated the disclosure of the bank accounts of public officials.

 

"The framers of the 1987 Constitution likewise recognized that bank accounts are not covered by either the right to information under Section 7, Article III or under the requirements of full public disclosure under Section 28, Article II," the motion said.

 

Estrada said the Fifth Division erred in its ruling by saying that Section 11 of Republic Act 9160 or the Anti-Money Laundering Act gives authority to AMLC to inquire into deposits of bank accounts believed to be engaged in illegal activities. Estrada insisted that such exception under the AMLA cannot override the Constitution as "right to privacy is still primordial" than any other State laws.

 

"It is respectfully submitted that the authority given to the AMLC to inquire into bank accounts is not unlimited. To be sure, the State's right to inquire into bank deposits does not override a citizen's right to privacy," Estrada said in his motion.

 

In its resolution, the Fifth Division also said that the law on bank secrecy is not absolute as there were exceptions to it as cited by the Supreme Court in its earlier rulings. Among the exceptions, the Fifth Division cited was when there is an order issued by a competent court to examine bank accounts which is subject to litigation of a criminal case such as plunder.

 

The Fifth Division noted that the Court of Appeals (CA) issued an order authorizing the AMLC to conduct the inquiry report on Estrada's bank accounts and other assets.

 

Estrada, however, pointed out that while the AMLC may have the approval of CA in conducting the inquiry, it does not necessarily mean that the council was also given authority to divulge the results of its investigation, especially as the AMLC report also looked into the bank accounts of private individuals who were not included in the Senator's plunder case before the Sandiganbayan.

 

"Notably, in this case, while the Court of Appeals may have authorized the AMLC to inquire into certain bank accounts, there is no showing that the AMLC has been granted authority to indiscriminately and/or capriciously divulge the results of the AMLC's inquiries," Estrada's motion said.

 

"The supposed AMLC Inquiry Report includes bank accounts of private individuals who are not impleaded as parties to the present case," the motion added. —NB, GMA News