Nancy Binay wants Senate to scrutinize GOCCs’ fund releases to NGOs

Senator Nancy Binay INQUIRER FILE PHOTO

MANILA, Philippines – Senator  Nancy  Binay  now  wants  the Senate  to also look into the “grant and release” of public funds by national and local government units as well as government-owned and-controlled corporations (GOCCs) to non-government  organizations.

In Senate Resolution No. 254, Binay requested the Senate blue ribbon committee to expand the scope of its investigation into the alleged misuse of   lawmakers’ priority development assistance fund (PDAF) to include the grant and releases of public funds by other government agencies.

“A broader inquiry is needed so we can further look and inspect into the practice of national agencies, LGUs and GOCCs in utilizing NGOs as conduits to launder public funds, see the faults and cracks in the system and then strategize on how these can be dealt with,”   she said in a statement on Tuesday.

“In the interest of true transparency and accountability, the committee should widen the scope of the inquiry to ensure that all angles of the scam, will be exposed and all bases will be covered,” she added.

Binay has also filed a bill that seeks to protect legitimate NGOs from being used as conduits in illegal transactions particularly in money laundering activities.

Senate Bill No. 1650, she said, would  further strengthen the “Anti-Money Laundering Law of 2001” in the light the Commission on Audit’s (COA) findings that government money was misused with the help of bogus NGOs.

Binay said the law was “necessarily urgent” to protect legitimate foundations or non-stock, non-profit organizations from such illicit enterprises.

“The PDAF probe has caused a negative stigma to all legitimate foundations, giving the impression that the money donated to these organizations was used for other purposes. Donors, from both the public and private sectors, would hesitate to support these NGOs,” she said.

“I believe that aside from stringent accreditation requirements and government certifications, there should be a law that would ensure that the misuse for money laundering would be prevented,” she added.

Binay said her bill proposes  that “NGOs/non-stock, non-profit organizations authorized to receive donations or funds from government agencies and local government units”  be  included  in the coverage of the AMLA law.

The proposed amendment, she said, would empower the Anti-Money Laundering Council (AMLC) to file a petition with the Securities and Exchange Commission for the dissolution of the NGOs proven to be involved in money laundering.

The bill provides that upon receipt of the petition, the SEC can issue a cease and desist order that will be in effect until the case is resolved.

“This gives more teeth to the existing law as it empowers the AMLC to come after NGOs proven to be involved in unlawful activities,” Binay said.