House forms technical working group to discuss FCDA amendments

Leyte Representative Sergio Apostol. INQUIRER FILE PHOTO

MANILA, Philippines—The House Committee on Banks and Financial Intermediaries on Tuesday formed a technical working group to focus on discussing proposed amendments to Republic Act 6426 or the Foreign Currency Deposit Act, which has been controversial in the impeachment trial on ousted chief justice Renato Corona.

Committee chairman Leyte Representative Sergio Apostol led the hearing on seven bills seeking to amend RA 6426. He assigned a technical working group to look into consolidating the following House bills:

House Bills 5809, 5853, 5858 and 6091 by Alliance of Concerned Teachers Party-list Representative Antonio Tinio, A-Teachers Representative Juliet Cortuna, San Juan City Representative Joseph Victor Ejercito and Oriental Mindoro Reynaldo Umali titled “Amending RA 6426 otherwise known as the Foreign Currency Deposit Act;

HB 5838  by Camarines Sur Representative Salvio Fortuno titled “Authorizing the impeachment court, regular courts and the Ombudsman to examine, inquire or look into the foreign currency deposits of public officials and employees, amending for the purpose Sec. 8 of RA 6426”;

HB 5840 by Bayan Muna Representatives Teddy Casiño and Neri Colmenares titled “Providing for the disclosure of foreign currency deposits in exceptional circumstances”;

and HB 6105  by Bagong Henerasyon Representative Bernadette Herrera-Dy titled “Amending RA 6426 and providing for the disclosure of financial information relative to foreign currency deposits in appropriate and just circumstances”.

The technical working group is likely to look into issues surrounding the amendments during the third regular session.

Tinio said the Corona trial bared the possibility of “corrupt government officials using the absolute secrecy” to siphon away funds through foreign deposit accounts and proposed the alignment of exceptions of RA 6426 with RA 1405 or the bank secrecy law.

Hearing this, Camarines Sur Representative Luis Villafuerte asked that the committee look into “not just aligning but expanding exceptions. We should broaden the exceptions.”

But with the discussions veering towards questions on public officials’ foreign currency deposits and whether these should be declared in their statements of assets, liabilities and net worth, Albay Representative Al Francis Bichara proposed they no longer be allowed to have such accounts.

“Mabuti pa kaya we make a bill preventing public officials from having foreign deposits. Para nating sinabing huwag nang mag-foreign deposit (ang public officials).”

Anti-Money Laundering Council executive director Vicente Aquino said they were in agreement with the proposed amendments but only if the provisions of the Anti-Money Laundering Law of 2001 will not be modified.

First posted 10:46a.m.