Supreme Court seeks CA, AMLC, SEC comments on Binay-linked firm plea

The Supreme Court has ordered the Court of Appeals, the Anti-Money Laundering Council, the Securities and Exchange Commission and the Insurance Commission to comment on a petition seeking to stop an assets probe on a Binay-linked bank.

The SC gave the respondents 10 days from receipt of notice to submit their respective comments on the plea by the Subido Pagente Certeza Mendoza and Binay Law Offices, which claimed the AMLC examination violated its right to due process, privacy, and the attorney-client privilege that is “sacrosanct in the legal profession."

The SPCMB said absolute confidentiality of bank deposits remains the general rule and basic state policy in the Philippines, “except in very limited situations."

It added that the AMLC’s "blanket authority" to examine the company’s bank accounts was "clearly intended to aid a mere fishing expedition."

The law firm was among the entities that the AMLC wanted to probe after being linked to Binay-related controversies.

The SPCMB said it had tried securing copies of pleadings and orders related to the AMLC’s application for bank examination filed with the Court of Appeals last February, but the appeals court denied the request on grounds of confidentiality.

The following month, the CA granted AMLC’s application for bank examination.

The firm said there is no law prohibiting the CA from disclosing the proceedings to the SPCMB and allowing it to intervene.

The law firm also asked the SC to strike down Section 11 of the Anti-Money Laundering Act that allows an ex parte application — or without the other party's consent or knowledge — for examination of bank accounts, saying rules of “fair play,” as well as the right to notice and right to be heard must always prevail.

The law firm insisted it had not been impleaded in any complaint involving any predicate crime that would justify an inquiry into its bank accounts.

The law firm said its bank accounts cannot be examined “on the pretext that one partner of petitioner SPCMB Law is a daughter of a person who is being accused of plunder, and that another partner stands as legal counsel for another person who is an alleged ‘dummy’ for said accused.”

The daughter being referred to is Vice President Jejomar Binay’s daughter Makati Rep. Mar-Len Abigail Binay, who was a former partner in the law firm.

The “dummy” being referred to is businessman Antonio Tiu, who was tagged as a "dummy" of the vice president in the Senate blue ribbon subcommittee probe on the allegedly overpriced Makati City Hall Building II. — BM, GMA News