Mar urges next president, vice president to waive Bank Secrecy Law

MANILA, Philippines - Liberal Party vice presidential candidate Sen. Manuel Roxas wants the next president and vice president to waive their rights under the bank secrecy law to ensure transparency and deter corruption.

“This is in line with the advocacy of Noynoy Aquino and myself for honest and clean governance,” Roxas said. “I myself will volunteer to waive the secrecy on my personal bank accounts. And I will propose to Noynoy that this be made to apply to him and to all Cabinet secretaries,” he added.

Noynoy is Sen. Benigno Aquino III, the standard-bearer of LP in the May elections.

He also said presidential appointees – numbering about 4,000 – should open their bank accounts for scrutiny.

“Transparency has always been the root of good governance. I have consistently practiced what I preach and am not about to let the people down,” Roxas said.

If elected vice president, Roxas said his first official act would be to initiate moves to open officials’ bank accounts to greater scrutiny.

Senate Bill 225 authored by Roxas makes it mandatory for all elected and appointive public officials to waive their rights under the 55-year-old Bank Secrecy Act.

The law prohibits scrutiny of bank deposits without court order.

The proposed measure seeks to empower the Ombudsman to summon all records even from private companies in aid of its investigation into any corruption case against public officials.

Aquino and Roxas have anchored their election campaign on a tough approach to government corruption. International and local experts have blamed massive corruption for the country’s stunted growth despite the restoration of democracy with the ouster of the Marcos regime 24 years ago.

“This is the reason why millions of Filipinos remain jobless and why there is widespread despair among the poorest of the poor. The government for them is not a provider, but a robber,” Roxas said in a statement.

The Asian Institute of Management, in a study, has put the cost of corruption in the Philippines at 20 percent of the annual national budget.

This means that with this year’s P1.5 trillion budget, more than P300 billion may only go to the pockets of corrupt officials, Roxas said.

Roxas said transparency is the best deterrent to corruption and abuse of power, and that by allowing the examination of their bank accounts, public officials would think twice about stealing taxpayers’ money.

He noted that current rules requiring public officials to divulge their assets and net worth are not enough.