Shotgun
mentality
- Written by Tribune Editorial
- Wednesday, 26 March 2014 00:00
Acontentious
issue in the impeachment hearing of former Chief Justice Renato Corona was the
House prosecutors’ demand that his dollar accounts be pried open for scrutiny
since one of the allegations against the Supreme Court head was that he had
withheld information on his wealth in his statement of assets, liabilities and
networth (SALn).
Brought into the spotlight was the
Foreign Currency Deposits Act (FCDA), which guarantees the confidentiality of
dollar accounts signed during the term of former President Ferdinand Marcos.
It was a measure supposedly meant as an incentive to foreign investors.
The amended Anti-Money Laundering Act already provided a procedure for the government to compel banks to open deposits in local currency through a court order.
Now, Internal Revenue Commissioner Kim Henares the other day said the Bureau of Internal Revenue (BIR) will seek the removal of the secrecy of bank deposits on suspected tax cheats which in effect would be the accounts of anybody whom the government fancies.
For somebody who frequents the shooting range similar to Noynoy, Henares may have developed a shotgun mentality of spraying a crowd with bullets to kill a criminal.
The allegation on Corona in being remiss on his SALn declarations was a good example of how selective political persecution can be introduced by giving the government excessive police powers.
Since the FCDA is a law, for instance, it was not the fault of Corona, nor probably most of the Cabinet members of Noynoy as well as Noynoy himself, to make use of it in securing their assets, legally acquired or otherwise.
The argument raised during the impeachment trial was that the FCDA and the bank secrecy law in general render the SALn law and the constitutional provisions on full disclosure of assets, liabilities and net worth useless since “corrupt public officials can open dollar accounts and co-mingle peso accounts with their relatives to justify the filing of SALn that are completely and totally inaccurate.”
The BIR wants to shortcut the process of removing the anomaly created by the FCDA by totally expunging the bank secrecy law and thus allow government to have access on bank accounts at its whim.
The bank secrecy law and even the FCDA, as they are, do not provide absolute confidentiality. The bank secrecy law is now subject to varied exemptions provided under the AMLA and the FCDA only bars the banks, not the depositors from disclosing information on dollar accounts.
Indeed the FCDA can be considered a major hurdle in efforts to fight corruption in government but a total repeal would create a backlash on businesses and even individuals that rely on the law to safeguard their assets in the country.
It was also proven during the impeachment trial that the powers the government currently has are already potent in extracting information about the assets of suspected corrupt officials.
Up to now, however, no proof has been established on the alleged hidden or undeclared wealth of Corona despite the continued persecution undertaken against him and his family.
The suggestion of Henares to totally remove the secrecy on bank deposits is not even necessary to comply with international norms as proven by the Financial Action Task Force on money laundering removing the country from its watch list after Congress passed reform measures to the AMLA.
Henares said the removal of the bank secrecy law is a step toward enhancing transparency which is a subject she should take up with Noynoy first since he is determined in his opaqueness by not endorsing the Freedom of Information bill.
The Henares proposal is even dangerous in its encompassing scope since it covers anybody whom she believes is not paying the right tax.
Using the current selective government campaign against targeted opposition members through the scripted Priority Development Assistance Fund scam, it will not be hard to imagine who Henares will go after once she gets her wish.
Dismantling the right to privacy comes to mind in the folly of Henares
It was a measure supposedly meant as an incentive to foreign investors.
The amended Anti-Money Laundering Act already provided a procedure for the government to compel banks to open deposits in local currency through a court order.
Now, Internal Revenue Commissioner Kim Henares the other day said the Bureau of Internal Revenue (BIR) will seek the removal of the secrecy of bank deposits on suspected tax cheats which in effect would be the accounts of anybody whom the government fancies.
For somebody who frequents the shooting range similar to Noynoy, Henares may have developed a shotgun mentality of spraying a crowd with bullets to kill a criminal.
The allegation on Corona in being remiss on his SALn declarations was a good example of how selective political persecution can be introduced by giving the government excessive police powers.
Since the FCDA is a law, for instance, it was not the fault of Corona, nor probably most of the Cabinet members of Noynoy as well as Noynoy himself, to make use of it in securing their assets, legally acquired or otherwise.
The argument raised during the impeachment trial was that the FCDA and the bank secrecy law in general render the SALn law and the constitutional provisions on full disclosure of assets, liabilities and net worth useless since “corrupt public officials can open dollar accounts and co-mingle peso accounts with their relatives to justify the filing of SALn that are completely and totally inaccurate.”
The BIR wants to shortcut the process of removing the anomaly created by the FCDA by totally expunging the bank secrecy law and thus allow government to have access on bank accounts at its whim.
The bank secrecy law and even the FCDA, as they are, do not provide absolute confidentiality. The bank secrecy law is now subject to varied exemptions provided under the AMLA and the FCDA only bars the banks, not the depositors from disclosing information on dollar accounts.
Indeed the FCDA can be considered a major hurdle in efforts to fight corruption in government but a total repeal would create a backlash on businesses and even individuals that rely on the law to safeguard their assets in the country.
It was also proven during the impeachment trial that the powers the government currently has are already potent in extracting information about the assets of suspected corrupt officials.
Up to now, however, no proof has been established on the alleged hidden or undeclared wealth of Corona despite the continued persecution undertaken against him and his family.
The suggestion of Henares to totally remove the secrecy on bank deposits is not even necessary to comply with international norms as proven by the Financial Action Task Force on money laundering removing the country from its watch list after Congress passed reform measures to the AMLA.
Henares said the removal of the bank secrecy law is a step toward enhancing transparency which is a subject she should take up with Noynoy first since he is determined in his opaqueness by not endorsing the Freedom of Information bill.
The Henares proposal is even dangerous in its encompassing scope since it covers anybody whom she believes is not paying the right tax.
Using the current selective government campaign against targeted opposition members through the scripted Priority Development Assistance Fund scam, it will not be hard to imagine who Henares will go after once she gets her wish.
Dismantling the right to privacy comes to mind in the folly of Henares
Contributor, www.OurHappySchool.com
TumugonBurahinIf you're paying the right taxes, it's not alluding to you. If you're not paying the right taxes, then it's talking to you. Kim Henares is doing a topnotch job. She has probably more balls than all the congress and senate combined.