House assures approval of bill to relax bank secrecy law

The House of Representatives leadership yesterday assured the passage of a bill that will relax the country's Bank Secrecy Law this 17th Congress.

House Majority Leader and Ilocos Norte Rep. Rodolfo Fariñas and House Deputy Speaker and Marikina City Rep. Miro Quimbo expressed the Lower Chamber's full support to the call made by President Duterte during his first State of the Nation Address (SONA) last July 25.

“We will pass a law that would relax the bank secrecy law. Our mandate is to support the legislative agenda of the President for the common good of the country,” Fariñas, a stalwart of President Duterte's ruling Partido Demokratikong Pilipino-Lakas ng Bayan (PDP-Laban), said.

Quimbo, a stalwart of the Liberal Party (LP), which forged an alliance with the supermajority-led PDP-Laban, said the House is strongly rallying behind President Duterte's anti-corruption, pro-transparency and accountability measures.

“I am all for it. Public officials need to accept that if they have nothing to hide, they should be the last ones to complain,” he said.

During his first SONA, President Duterte asked Congress to ease the Law of Secrecy of Bank Deposits or Republic Act No. 1405, which inhibits the Bangko Sentral ng Pilipinas (BSP) from looking into bank deposit accounts and provides that inquiries may only be made through a court order.

Bangko Sentral ng Pilipinas (BSP) Governor Amando M. Tetangco Jr. had sought the lifting or easing of the law “under certain conditions” to ward off money laundering and terrorist financing activities in the country.

Tetangco, chairman of the AMLC, said the “very strict” law hinders the efforts to stop money laundering in the country.