MANILA – A lawmaker on Wednesday said that bank secrecy provisions cannot be invoked to block legislative scrutiny into alleged unexplained wealth being examined under impeachment proceedings.
Batangas Rep. Gerville Luistro, who chairs the House Committee on Justice, made the remark as lawmakers continued their inquiry into financial records connected to Vice President Sara Duterte amid challenges raised against the committee’s access to Anti-Money Laundering Council (AMLC) documents.
Luistro explained that the intent of bank secrecy laws is to safeguard legitimate banking activity, not to prevent disclosure of transactions that may raise red flags in accountability investigations. She said the Constitution places a higher value on public trust and transparency, particularly when officials face impeachment complaints.
She added that the AMLC is mandated to investigate suspicious financial activity and relay findings to authorities, stressing that this process is part of lawful oversight rather than a breach of confidentiality.
The lawmaker also warned that efforts to block disclosure could be interpreted as an attempt to suppress potentially damaging information. She said that transparency should naturally follow if there is nothing questionable in the transactions under review.
For Luistro, accountability demands openness, while resistance only intensifies public doubt about the records being examined.
ia/.xf
