Nelson Morales

Luistro: Impeachment an exception in Bank Secrecy Law

Article (news)

Vivienne Gulla

ABS-CBN News

MANILA (UPDATED)- No law was violated when the Anti-Money Laundering Council report on the covered and suspicious transactions involving Vice President Sara Duterte and her husband Atty. Mans Carpio was disclosed in the impeachment hearing conducted by the House Committee on Justice, according to the panel chairperson and members named as respondents in the complaint.House Committee on Justice Chairperson Gerville Luistro asserted the impeachment process is an accountability mechanism and it is an exception to the Bank Secrecy Law.Section 2 of Republic Act 1405 or the Bank Secrecy Law specifies the following exceptions: &quot;upon written permission of the depositor, in cases of impeachment, or upon order of a competent court in cases of bribery or dereliction of duty of public officials, or in cases where the money deposited or invested is the subject matter of the litigation.&quot;Luistro added that what was disclosed in the hearing were the “transactions” flagged by the AMLC in its report, not “bank records”.“Ang maliwanag, they are really against the disclosure of this information. These are attempts to suppress the disclosure of this information,” Luistro said in an interview with DZMM Teleradyo.“We maintain the position that we did not violate any law- neither the provisions of the Bank Secrecy, nor the provisions of the Anti-Money Laundering Act,&quot; she said. &quot;This is an accountability mechanism, and therefore, the exception provided in the bank secrecy law must be interpreted in such a way that it should cover any other confidentiality in other existing laws. Otherwise, wala nang matutuloy na impeachment on the ground of unexplained wealth,” she added.House Committee on Justice member Rep. Chel Diokno, House Senior Deputy Minority Leader Leila de Lima, and House Deputy Minority Leader Percival Cendaña share this view.“Kampante po tayo na hindi ‘yan magpo-prosper dahil wala naman po kaming linalabag na batas…. Mandato namin, karapatan namin… power ng committee to subpoena ‘yung mga dokumento na mga relevant para doon sa pag-prove ng impeachable offenses,” de Lima said.“Ginagawa lang naman namin ‘yung aming tungkulin sa Committee on Justice. Ang ibinigay sa amin na kapangyarihan ay mismo galing sa ating Konstitusyon na mag-conduct ng hearing at mismo sa rules ng House ay mayroon tayong power… to compel production of documents and witnesses. So pagka sinabi natin na talagang may question of impeachment, siyempre ang pinag-uusapan doon ay accountability, and since we&#x27;re talking about Constitutional accountability, those powers should be respected by everybody,” Diokno, for his part, said.&quot;Ang tawag ko sa kaso na ito, mema. Kasi nga nadiin na sila ng ebidensya. MEMAsabi lang, pumunta sa Korte, pero ang linaw kasi ng sinasabi ng batas, malinaw pa sa sikat ng araw, pag tanghaling tapat: may exemption talaga pagdating sa impeachment cases sa coverage ng Bank Secrecy Law,” Cendaña noted.The lawmakers explained the necessity of also looking into the flagged transactions of the Vice President’s husband, even if he is not a public official.“He is married to the Vice President, and under the laws that we have in the country, their properties are communal in nature. So there should be every reason to look into the properties of both spouses,” Diokno said.“In principle, ang ibig sabihin niyan, ang pag-aari ni VP, ay pag-aari rin ng husband. At ang pag-aari ng husband ay pag-aari rin ni VP,&quot; Luistro said. &quot;In other words, for us to be able to look into the Vice President’s property, if indeed there is unexplained wealth, we have to consider the fact na ‘yung pag-aari ng husband ay pag-aari din niya, ng Vice President,” Luistro added. “Pwede kasing itago sa asawa… dahil nga private citizen or private person siya,” De Lima noted.Diokno and de Lima questioned why they were singled out in the complaint, when the move to subpoena the AMLC report was a collective decision of the House panel.“Harassment na naman ito, panggulo, pang-lihis ng issue... But I don&#x27;t feel at all intimidated. They cannot stop us from doing our imperative constitutional duty. Tutuloy-tuloy po kami kahit may ganyan na criminal complaint,” de Lima said.She and Cendaña also issued a similar observation.Diokno gave assurances they will answer the allegations in Carpio’s complaint in the proper forum, but stressed that it should not affect the impeachment proceedings at the lower chamber.

House Committee on Justice Chairperson Gerville Luistro said the impeachment process is an accountability mechanism and is an exception in the Bank Secrecy Law.

House Committee on Justice Chairperson Gerville Luistro said the impeachment process is an accountability mechanism and is an exception in the Bank Secrecy Law.