Sen. Chiz Escudero last week called on his colleagues in Congress to work for the passage of a bill that would enable the government to examine the bank accounts and investments of civil servants Senate Bill No. 1476 was passed into law, but government officials like State Prosecutor John Resado and former Agriculture Secretary Joc-joc Bolante may not be able to evade questions in any hearing about their financial standing, especially in congressional inquiries.
The bill, if approved into law will provide mechanism that allows the government to audit the finances of a civil servant filed by Sen. Escudero in Philippine Senate.
"To ensure that the civil servant does not use his position to enrich himself, there must be transparency in the financial standing of the civil servants. Once passed, this bill will serve as deterrent to graft and corruption," said Escudero.
Once passed into law, the bill requires public officials and employees to submit a written permission or waiver in favor of the Office of the Ombuds-man, to look into all deposits of whatever nature with banks or banking institutions.
This will effectively put civil servants and high govern-ment officials, beyond the protec-tive mantle of banking secrecy laws, which are oftentimes use as shield in investi-gations involving corruption.
Resado and Bolante are emboldened by the cloak of the bank secrecy law, which also leaves lawmakers’ hands tied from further digging into their questionable finances, Escudero pointed out.
"This covers both those within and outside the Philippines including investment bonds issued by the government" Escudero added. The waiver should be contained in the statement of assets and liabilities of all government officials and employees.
The senator said the passage of this bill is timely as it will not only plug loopholes in the graft and corruption efforts of the govern-ment, assuming that they have some, but it will also aid the government to recover ill-gotten funds.
Chiz Tells Cha Cha Proponents:
‘Wait For The Next Administration’
Senator Chiz Escudero last week called on partymates of President Arroyo in Congress to stand down and let talks on amending the Constitution be deferred until the next administration.
Escudero made the call as he urged the people to be vigilant against moves by allies of the President in the House of Representatives to push for a "piece-meal" change in the Charter.
The senator issued the statement as House Speaker Prospero Nograles continued to push for the approval of’ resolution calling for amendments to the economic provisions of the 1987 Constitution.
"Unless they specifically say what they want amended and how they want the Constitution amended, we cannot and should not let our guards down," Escudero, chair of the Senate Committee on Constitutional Amendments, Revision of Codes and Laws, said.
He said any amend-ment in any part of the Charter at this moment could very well be a ploy to worm their way through term extensions.
"Even if Cha-Cha proponents say they are just rooting for amendments to the economic provisions of the Constitution, anybody can stand along the way and call for a move to amend the very rule which made them convene. They can move to include term extension during the deliberations," Escudero stressed.
"What they want us to do is close our eyes and allow them what could later turn out to be the rape of the Constitution," Escudero stated. /MP
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