Senator Richard Gordon chided the Banco de Oro (BDO) on Tuesday for refusing to provide the Senate blue ribbon panel bank records of a Chinese man allegedly involved in the smuggling of billions of pesos of illegal drugs into the country.
In this light, the committee chair said he would introduce an amendment to the bank secrecy law to allow the blue ribbon panel to subpoena pertinent documents related to their probe.
“By the way, we asked for the record of BDO para makuha ko yung records ng Chinese. Ang sabi sa amin kailangan daw may court order,” Gordon said at the continuation of the Senate panel inquiry into the alleged smuggling of P11-billion worth of shabu into the country.
However, he did not name the Chinese man he was referring to.
“We will amend the law to include drug-related and terrorism law. Upon the request of the blue ribbon committee, we should be able to get that. We will file a bill to that effect. And shame on BDO. They cannot help us here,” he continued.
READ: Gordon to PDEA: Arrest Chinese man in bigtime ‘shabu’ smuggling
INQUIRER.net is contacting BDO for comment.
But under Republic Act No. 1405, or the bank secrecy law, the disclosure of, or inquiry into, all deposits in banks and banking institutions in the Philippines are prohibited.
These pieces of information may only be released if there’s “written consent of the depositor, in cases of impeachment, upon order of a competent court in cases of bribery or dereliction of duty or public officials, or in cases where the money deposited or invested is the subject matter of litigation.”
READ: In the know: The bank secrecy law
Philippine Drug Enforcement Agency (PDEA) chief Director General Aaron Aquino earlier tagged a certain Chan Yee Wah, alias KC Chan, Albert Chan, or Tony Chan, as the mediator of a drug syndicate suspected of bringing tons of shabu into the country.
He was also among those implicated for trying to smuggle 355 kilos of shabu worth P2.4 billion at the Manila International Container Port last August 7.
Gordon said the PDEA should go after Chan./ac