SENATE President Juan Ponce Enrile on Wednesday directed the concerned Senate committee to investigate the Bangko Sentral ng Pilipinas (BSP) and the Anti-Money Laundering Council (AMLC)

for possible violation of the bank secrecy law by accessing bank records of individuals without a court order.

Enrile learned about the supposedly illegal incursion into bank accounts when a witness in the impeachment trial of Supreme Court Chief Justice Renato Corona revealed that the BSP and AMLC audited the Philippine Savings Bank (PSBank) from September to November 2010 and the bank accounts of Corona were among those reviewed by the audit team.

According to PSBank President Pascual Garcia 3rd, the AMLC observed that Corona’s account was not classified as “politically exposed people” or PEP.

“I’m not against any examining as required by the law, but if they looked into the accounts of anybody in this country, then what are the Republic Acts that imposed secrecy on certain matters of this country? Is this not violation of our laws? Is this not an intrusion of the bill of rights? Is this not violation of rule of law in this country?” Enrile said during the Senate session on Wednesday morning.

The Senate chief maintained that the AMLC and the BSP has no authority to look into or scrutinize bank accounts without a court order.

“The people are involved, our depositors are involved, our banking system is involved . . . This is a serious matter. Only totalitarian countries can look into the private affairs of their people. We are not. We are democratic society,” Enrile said.

The Senate Committee on Banks, Financial Institutions and Currencies chaired by Sen. Sergio Osmena 3rd was tasked to conduct the inquiry.

Sen. Edgardo Angara also expressed his concern over the practice of classifying PEP in the implementation of the Anti-Money Laundering Act.

“I have been wondering about this category of ‘Politically Exposed Persons’, and its impact and implications on a group of citizens being classified as such, in terms of credit extensions, withdrawals and special treatment,” Angara said.

Angara, the vice chairman of the Senate committee on finance, expressed his concerns over the possible deprivation of credit and limited access to other services of a person included in this category.

Sen. Panfilo Lacson explained that the term “Politically Exposed Person” was not included in the AMLA Law, but was stipulated in Bangko Sentral ng Pilipinas Circular No. 706 issued in December 2010. A specialist group not under the AMLC, but under the BSP, is tasked to audit the bank record of PEPs.

“This, in effect, constitutes a special witch hunt for PEPs who can be a subject of audits and whose accounts can be the first to be examined. I think you cannot think of a worst invasion of privacy than this,” Angara said.