Philippines’ new policy to require all public servants and employees to renounce their rights under the Foreign Currency Deposit Act (RA 6426)

Senator Chiz Escudero has expressed confidence that his plan to require all public servants and employees to renounce their rights under the Foreign Currency Deposit Act (RA 6426) and the Bank Secrecy Law (Republic Act 1405) will ultimately become law during the 19th Congress.

Escudero recently filed Senate Bill No. 56, one of his top priorities, which would require all government employees—aside from those who serve in an honorary capacity—to give written consent to the Office of the Ombudsman so it can access and examine all of their deposits, including foreign currency deposits—both domestically and abroad.

During his first stint as a senator, in 2010, Escudero initially introduced his favourite measure. It was registered under SB No. 16. In 2013 and 2016, he submitted this measure once more.

To set an example for his fellow public servants, the veteran lawmaker always provided the Senate Secretary with a signed waiver on the confidentiality of bank deposits together with his Statement of Assets and Liabilities (SALN).

“Although I was not able to attend the meeting, I was not titigil. Simple ang paniniwala ko: Wala kang dapat katakutan sa panukalang ito kung wala kang kinakatakutan at kung wala kang tinatago. Ika nga nila, kung ayaw mo naman pumirma ng waiver, ‘di ‘wag kang pumasok sa gobyerno, “He said.

However, SB 56’s proposed expansion of the coverage to include deposits in banks and other financial institutions both inside and outside the Philippines, as well as investment bonds issued by those entities.

Escudero’s bill stipulated that “only the Office of the Ombudsman shall obtain or use the written consent or waiver, or any other information or data gained by virtue thereof,” in order to prevent the waiver from being erroneously exploited for political persecutory measures or “witch hunts.”

According to SB 56, the signed consent or waiver will only be utilised to look into a properly verified complaint or to pursue legal action.

According to the Escudero bill, if it becomes law, the Office of the Ombudsman will be in charge of carrying out the proposal, “provided, however, that it shall enlist the advice of the Department of Justice (DOJ) and the Bangko Sentral ng Pilipinas (BSP) in the drafting of the written permission or waiver.”

The senator stated in his Explanatory Note that there is a need to add more exceptions to the confidentiality of bank deposits because the ones that are now in place are rather few and exclusive.

“In contrast to RA 6426, which treats foreign money deposits with complete anonymity, RA 1405 now permits four (4) exceptions.

Given that the aforementioned laws on bank deposits have stood the test of time and remained unchanged, the policy intention is highly tenable “He emphasised.

“The use of banks as institutions to conceal illicit wealth, finance illicit operations, launder money, evade taxes, and commit other financial crimes under the guise of statutorily enforced secrecy, however, has its own unforeseen consequences. Because of this, all nations have lifted the ban on the disclosure of bank deposits, with the exception of the Philippines “And Escudero.

According to Escudero, the government should lead the initiative by requiring its officials and employees to waive the secrecy of bank deposits as authorised by law, given the policy direction toward lifting the secrecy of bank deposits to address the commission of financial crimes.

He asserted that by doing this, “the government might successfully minimise, if not resolve, the problem of bribery and corruption in government.”