Bank deposits can’t easily be examined
The Supreme Court has assured legitimate bankers that despite the enactment of the anti-money laundering law seven years ago, bank deposits cannot be easily examined without giving the depositor his right to argue such move.
Maintaining the confidentiality of bank deposits as a basic state policy, the High Court said the Anti-Money Laundering Act does not specifically authorize the issuance ex parte of a bank inquiry order.
“If indeed the legislature had intended to authorize ex parte proceedings for the issuance of the bank inquiry order, then it could have easily expressed such intent in the law, as it did with the freeze order,” the Supreme Court ruled.
The High Court added that while the law allows the Anti-Money Laundering Council to look into bank accounts without having to obtain judicial order, this exception applies only to cases where probable cause exists that the deposits are connected to kidnapping, violations drugs trade, hijacking, and other unlawful activities.
The SC junked the petition of the Anti-Money Laundering Council to conduct an inquiry into the bank deposits of the government and Philippine International Airport Terminal Corporation (PIATCO) officials involved in the controversial
AMLA wants to inquire into the bank deposits - involving 13 bank accounts - of former Department of Transportation and Communications Secretary Pantaleon Alvarez, and former PIATCO president Cheng Yong and his wife Lilia Cheng.
The decision, penned by Justice Dante Tinga, junked the petition of the council assailing the preliminary injunction issued by the Court of Appeals that stopped the court from implementing ex parte bank inquiry orders on the accounts of Alvarez and Cheng. — Rene U. Borromeo/LPM
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