Presiding Officer Francis ‘Chiz’ Escudero on Monday overruled the objection of Senator-judge Imee Marcos to the discussion of foreign-currency account information contained in records of the Anti-Money Laundering Council (AMLC).
In his ruling, Escudero said the confidentiality provisions under the Foreign Currency Deposit Act (FCDA) must be read together with the Anti-Money Laundering Act (AMLA), particularly provisions requiring covered institutions to report covered and suspicious transactions to the AMLC.
“The provision on absolute confidentiality under Section 8 of Republic Act No. 6426 or the Foreign Currency Deposit Act of the Philippines (FCDA) must be read in harmony with Section 9C of Republic Act No. 9160 or the Anti-Money Laundering Act which expressly requires covered institutions to report covered and suspicious transactions to the AMLC,” Escudero said.
He noted that the AMLA provides that covered institutions and their employees would not be considered to have violated the FCDA when making such reports.
“Clearly, the confidentiality afforded to foreign currency deposits does not exempt the latter from the reporting and inquiry provisions under AMLA,” Escudero said.
Escudero also cited Section 76(2) of the Bangko Sentral ng Pilipinas' Manual of Regulations on Foreign Exchange Transactions, which states that the absolute confidentiality of foreign-currency deposits does not apply to covered institutions that report such deposits through covered transaction reports or suspicious transaction reports to the AMLC.
He stressed that the impeachment court was not ordering a bank to disclose foreign-currency deposits.
Instead, AMLC Executive Director Atty. Ronel Buenaventura was testifying on records and financial information that were already lawfully in the AMLC's possession, Escudero said.
“The suspicious transactions reports or covered transaction reports submitted to the AMLC do not acquire the status of absolute confidentiality merely because they contain information concerning foreign currency deposit accounts,” he said.
Escudero then denied the objection and manifestation raised by Marcos' counsel, allowing the proceedings to continue with the discussion of the AMLC records.
