A dose of her own medicine.
Sen. Joker Arroyo said he warned an adamant Gloria Macapagal-Arroyo way back in 2001 that her enemies could use against her the Anti-Money Laundering Bill, which she had wanted signed into law, once she had left Malacañang.
The same could happen to President Benigno Aquino III once he is no longer in power, he said.
The senator recalled that he personally warned Mrs. Arroyo of the dangers of an Anti-Money Laundering Law (Amla) that she had wanted in place as a precaution against global terrorism.
Arroyo recalled that it was right after the Sept. 11, 2001, terror attacks in the United States when Malacañang asked Congress to fast track a bill that would penalize money laundering efforts meant to finance terrorist activities.
Scourge of officials
“This bill will be the scourge of future officials,” Arroyo remembered telling the Chief Executive then.
“When this was being discussed in 2001, we warned President Gloria Macapagal-Arroyo: ‘This will haunt you. This is the bill that will haunt you.’
“When you are in power, it is OK. But for the enemies of those who are…in power, this is a very dangerous bill,” he added then.
“But she ignored (our warnings). Look, she is now being prosecuted partly because and substantially because of the reports of the (Anti-Money Laundering Council against Chief Justice Renato Corona),” Arroyo said.
He added that it was he and Sen. Edgardo Angara who were doggedly against an antimoney laundering measure that time.
Arroyo then threw in an apparent warning to the current resident of Malacañang.
“These are the consequences of the bills that are good only for who is in power,” he said.
Arroyo’s musings surfaced during the last Senate debate on proposed amendments to the Amla.
That time, the specter of Ombudsman Conchita Carpio-Morales’ revelations about Corona’s supposed 82 dollar accounts that allegedly contained $12 million in “fresh deposits” hung heavy.
This was because Morales had said it was the AMLC that was her office’s source of information on Corona’s dollar deposits.
The Ombudsman did not have to force the AMLC to give the information or wrest such details from the banks where Corona kept his deposits.
The Amla requires all banks to automatically report all transactions such as deposits, withdrawals and transfers amounting to P500,000 and above or its equivalent to the AMLC.
Senate majority leader Tito Sotto agreed with Arroyo, warning there was a likelihood that the Ombudsman’s effort to pin down Corona for unexplained wealth could set a precedent and unleash a barrage of complaints meant to harass political enemies.
Morales said she had sent a letter to the AMLC requesting its assistance for her office’s “fact-finding” effort to establish a case against Corona.
Morales said she had received complaints from various parties that the Chief Justice had failed to declare assets, particularly cash deposits in peso and foreign currency in his statement of assets, liabilities and net worth (SALN).
“I foresee an impact. If the Ombudsman would write a letter and the AMLC acts on it, any governor or candidate for that matter would be crushed (“durog”) by information about his alleged bank accounts or any other allegation, especially before an election,” Sotto said.