Veil of secrecy

When Renato Corona faced the Senate impeachment court and admitted that he did not declare his substantial dollar and peso deposits in his official asset statements, he explained that the accounts were covered by bank secrecy laws.

The explanation did not stop Corona’s conviction by the impeachment court and his ouster as chief justice. Today his successor also faces impeachment and possible ouster, and the charges against her include accusations related to her statement of assets, liabilities and net worth or SALN.

President Duterte himself has been accused since the election campaign of failing to declare bank deposits in his SALN. The President has denied any hidden wealth and said his bank accounts would be opened to the opposition for scrutiny, except to his arch critic Sen. Antonio Trillanes IV.

Without a formal waiver from the account holder, however, the bank secrecy law will continue to cover the President’s bank deposits.

The law also covers the accounts of all other government officials. A bill has been filed in the House of Representatives, seeking to exempt public officials from the bank secrecy law to promote transparency and discourage corruption. The Department of Finance, which opposes the bill, has another proposal, which is to empower authorities to look into the bank accounts of any individual suspected of tax evasion or corruption.

Both proposals recognize the need to ease bank secrecy laws in a country where corruption is deeply entrenched and tax evasion and money laundering are seen as serious problems. Lawmakers have long resisted proposals to relax bank secrecy laws, inevitably raising suspicions that they are protecting personal interests.

Self-preservation is also seen as the biggest reason for the resistance of legislators to any proposed law against racketeering and related measures. Any support for proposals to ease bank secrecy laws will dispel this perception, and boost efforts to promote good governance.