TRANSCRIPT OF AMBUSH INTERVIEW OF SEN. SERGE OSMEÑA III

Serge: ... it's the Code of Ethics and the Anti-Graft law, which says that the Ombudsman has the right if you sign the waiver. Eh nagpirma ng waiver. You know, even in the Bank Secrecy Act and the FCDU law, if the client signs the waiver, then you can access his bank account.

Q: 'Yung waiver sa SALN?

Serge: Yes. That's already a waiver. That's a waiver of the Bank Secrecy law. That's a waiver of the Foreign Currency Deposit Unit.

Q: 'Yun pong pag-disclose ni Ombudsman ng information sa impeachment court, hindi ba violation 'yun ng law? O 'yung banks lang talaga ang covered ng Bank Secrecy law?

Serge: Well actually, under the Bank Secrecy Act, in cases of impeachment, that's an exemption. Impeachment po ito. So it's not a violation of the law.

Q: Banks lang ang barred from giving info?

Serge: 'Yan ang sasabihin ng banks, 'we are barred, kasuhan ninyo ako', kasi ayaw nila magkaroon ng bank run. Matatakot ang mga depositors nila.

Q: Anong epekto nito sa banking industry natin?

Serge: You look at the effect on the entire country. We're asking people to be honest. Bakit pa tayo magpapasa ng SALN if we're going to lie about it? At magiging sikreto? Ipatatago niyo sa desk ng secretary ninyo. Tapos sasabihin ninyo nag-file na po ako. Nasaan? Nandun po sa drawer ng secretary ko. So that does not comply with the spirit of the law. What we're saying is that, we just want more transparency in dealings of government and government officials, so they should not be able to hide behind various secrecy laws. 'Yes, I will be transparent pero secret ito ha.' Hindi po pwede ang ganun.

It will strengthen our banking industry, because all over the world, sinasabi nila that we have the strictest bank secrecy law, or one of the strictest. At ang trend po ngayon is towards transparency. Kaya nagkakaroon tayo ng Anti-Money laundering laws. Sa America, kinasuhan nila ang Swiss banks kasi tinatago ng Swiss banks ang mga American depositors doon in order to evade US taxes, kinasuhan sila at talo 'yung Union Bank of Switzerland 'ata 'yun, it was charged $180 million yata in fines and they were ordered to open up their books and show them the deposit receipts of American taxpayers.

Q: Dun sa mga kailangang amyendahan sa AMLA, kasama ba diyan 'yung nangyayari ngayon? Kailangan bang higpitan o luwagan pa?

Serge: Para sa akin, we are guided by the Financial Action Task Force. 'Yun po ang grupo ng 20 nations that have been given the mandate to implement the Anti-Money Laundering concepts all over the world. Hindi po pwede na you have 120 countries abiding, and then 40 countries na tinatago pa 'yung mga deposits, eh di leak 'yun. Dapat sama-sama na ho. Dapat naka-harmonize lahat ng mga batas natin sa mga batas ng ibang bansa. So we're trying to comply with that at meron din pong penalty 'yan. Kapag inicha-pwera ang banking system natin sa world financial system, kawawa ang mga OFWs, ang mga investors dito, matatakot na po sila dahil babarahin ang mga remittances nila from abroad to Philippine banks and vice versa. So, you want to make sure that you're in sync, you're in harmony with the rest of the banking system of the world.

Q: Sinasabi po ni Justice Cuevas na transactional accounts daw iyong mga ni-reveal ni Ombudsman...

Serge: Well, what he is probably saying is that it was a 'flow', it's not stocks. So I requested the prosecution to compute what is stock... Alam mo in accounting, there are 2 concepts: FLOW, meaning in-out, in-out. So magdo-double, magti-triple transactions ka dun. You have 100,000 deposits, you withdraw it tomorrow, then deposit it day after tomorrow, and withdraw after that, then deposit, and then withdraw. Kung bibilangin mo 'yun, that will be 600,000. Hindi ho, 100,000 lang ho 'yun. Kaya nga po pinapa-identify ko po kung magkano talaga ang base amount na ginagamit ng respondent dito.

Q: 'Yung transactional account, 'yun din po?

Serge: Hindi ho. It's a little bit more complicated than that. It's the accountants who can do that, kaya nga po kahapon nag-testify si Heidi Mendoza, but inamin naman niya na she had not had the chance to study the stocks. So, ang hihingin po natin ngayon, what were his balances as of Dec 31, 2004; Dec 31, 2005; Dec 31, 2006; Dec 31, 2007, etc. para makita po namin kung magkano po talaga ang capital.