MANILA, Philippines - The United States has turned over to the Philippines $132,000 from forfeited U.S. property of former military comptroller Jacinto Ligot embroiled in a multimillion-dollar corruption scandal.
It is the first time the US government has transmitted to the Philippines, money linked to corruption in a forfeiture case.
US Ambassador Harry Thomas said Thursday that the case is a sign of confidence in President Benigno Aquino III's administration, which has taken steps to battle corruption.
Thomas said that the transfer was made possible through the Mutual Legal Assistance Treaty (MLAT) between the governments of the United States and the Philippines.
He added that the turnover of the $ 132,000 to the Bureau of Treasury will redound to the benefit of the Filipino people.
The Ligot couple are facing tax evasion charges filed by the Bureau of Internal Revenue before the Department of Justice for their alleged failure to file their income tax returns for taxable years 2001-2004 amounting to P480 million.
Ligot is also among the several retired officers investigated by the Senate for allegedly pocketing government funds and buying US property.
During the recent Senate investigation conducted by the Senate Blue Ribbon Committee, it was discovered that some P740 million were deposited to and later withdrawn from the accounts of the Ligot couple.
One more Senate hearing
Senate Blue Ribbon Committee Chairman Teofsito Guingona III told reporters that they are looking at conducting one more hearing on the complaints against the Ligot couple.
He added that they are also planning to review the Anti-Money Laundering Act (AMLA), with “all of the banks involved in the Ligot and the Garcia cases will have to be called and asked why there were certain loopholes in the country’s banking laws.”
“We should take a look at our banking laws,” he pointed out.
“If you recall in the last hearing, despite the AMLA report saying that they (Ligots) have these bank deposits here, they did not readily acknowledge the ownership of those accounts,” he added.
Guingona welcomed the move of the U.S. government, while citing that AMLA is an internationally coordinated body.
“This is worldwide; it’s headed or coordinated by the Financial Task Force. So pag-turn-over, I would suppose it was a result of international coordination, international cooperation,” he said. (With Jun Pasaylo, AP and PNA)