Trillanes waiver on bank secrecy is useless, says Aguirre

Justice Secretary Vitaliano Aguirre II (left) says the waiver on bank secrecy signed by Sen. Antonio Trillanes IV is not covered by AMLA. (File photos from the Philippine Daily Inquirer)

The waiver on bank secrecy signed by Sen. Antonio Trillanes IV is useless, according to Justice Secretary Vitaliano Aguirre II.

“The waiver is useless because the offshore accounts are not covered by AMLA [Anti-Money Laundering Act],” Aguirre said in a text message on Wednesday.

He added that the offshore accounts allegedly owned by Trillanes appears to have a co-depositor.

“For the bank to honor his waiver, both depositors must sign a waiver,” Aguirre said.

Last Monday, Trillanes signed a waiver on the bank secrecy law after he was accused by President Rodrigo Duterte of hiding his wealth in bank accounts abroad.

The senator allegedly have 12 bank accounts abroad. The information also circulated in social media.

Trillanes’s name was also mentioned by the Coalition for Investigation and Prosecution, which is led by former Manila Councilor Greco Belgica, and the Volunteers Against Crime and Corruption (VACC) as among those who allegedly misused the Disbursement Acceleration Program (DAP) funds allotted to them.

The coalition submitted to the Department of Justice (DOJ) documents showing that Trillanes received a total of P245 million in DAP funds in three tranches – P100 million, P50 million, and P95 million.

According to the coalition’s investigation, Trillanes donated P10 million from his DAP funds to a nongovernment organization that allegedly turned out to be a donor, not recipient, of donations.

/atm

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