A former Land Bank of the Philippines (LandBank) manager explained the distinction between covered transactions and suspicious transactions during the 10th day of Vice President Sara Duterte’s impeachment trial on Wednesday.
Former LandBank Department of Education (DepEd) branch manager Nenita Camposano provided the explanation while responding to questions from Senator-Judge Bam Aquino during the Senate impeachment proceedings involving Article I of the impeachment complaint.
Aquino asked Camposano to clarify the difference between transactions automatically reported to authorities and those flagged due to unusual circumstances.
“Pinag-uusapan po kasi ‘yung covered, suspicious, pati ‘yung salitang unusual. Sa inyo pong pagkakaalam bilang bank manager ano po ba ang pinagkaiba ng covered transactions, suspicious transactions?” Aquino asked.
Camposano explained that covered transactions are automatically reported to the Anti-Money Laundering Council (AMLC) based on the bank’s reporting system, particularly transactions exceeding the required threshold.
“Ang covered transactions automatic po ‘yang nire-report sa AMLC. May system po ang LandBank na ang mga transactions ng banko na in excess sa P500,000 ay automatic naka-report,” Camposano said.
She added that suspicious transactions are identified based on the bank’s assessment, regardless of the amount involved, when a transaction appears doubtful or questionable.
“Ang suspicious transactions pagka meron kaming nakita. Ke malaking amount, ke maliit basta’t parang doubtful ‘yung transactions kailangan namin i-report,” she said.
During the questioning, Camposano was also asked whether the ₱37.5 million transactions involving the Department of Education were classified as suspicious transactions.
However, she declined to answer, citing restrictions on disclosing such information.
Camposano’s testimony was part of the prosecution’s presentation of witnesses under Article I, which centers on allegations of the alleged misuse of ₱612.5 million in confidential funds from the OVP and the DepEd.
