3 presidential bets vow to open their bank records

Three presidential aspirants vowed to open up their bank accounts to public scrutiny should they win in the May 10 elections, a move seen to promote transparency among government officials. Liberal Party standard bearer Senator Benigno “Noynoy" Aquino III, independent presidential candidate Senator Ana Consuelo "Jamby" Madrigal and Ang Kapatiran Party’s Olongapo City Councilor JC de los Reyes all agreed to waive their rights to their bank accounts’ secrecy. The three were the only candidates for the highest office to show up at the presidential forum held at the Integrity and Human Rights Conference in Makati City on Tuesday. Aquino said he was willing to undertake the move “if there is a question about my integrity." Madrigal and de los Reyes followed suit, adding they would oblige their future Cabinet members to do the same. Even before the campaign period, Aquino's running mate Mar Roxas had challenged his opponents in the vice presidential race to waive their rights to banking confidentiality. “Those are things that have to be monitored because corruption doesn’t happen on top, it also happens on [lower] levels," Madrigal said during the same forum. "I have nothing to hide." Under Republic Act No. 1405, banks are disallowed from identifying depositors as well as the amount of their deposits, including investments in government bonds. "[Such transactions and investments] are hereby considered as of an absolutely confidential nature and may not be examined, inquired or looked into by any person, government official, bureau or office," a portion of the law’s section 2 reads. However, the same law allows a depositor to waive the right to confidentiality through written consent. The Monetary Board, the Bangko Sentral ng Pilipinas’ policy-making body, can also order an examination of a bank account should there be “reasonable grounds" that bank fraud or a serious irregularity has been or is being committed. The Commission on Human Rights organized Tuesday's event in cooperation with the Civil Service Commission, the United Nations Development Programme, Transparency International Philippines, and the Association of Schools of Public Administration in the Philippines, Inc. (ASPAP). Businessmen from Business for Integrity and Stability of Our Nation 2020 (Bisyon 2020) was also among the convenors. The forum was organized to allow the aspirants to discuss their anti-corruption polices and plans for human rights reforms. "We want them to see the close linkage between corruption and human rights because corruption is the worst form of human rights violation. It robs the people of basic services," said CHR chair Leila de Lima. JC to Noynoy: I want you to succeed Briefly, tension occurred between Aquino and de los Reyes after the latter told the senator that the LP should be more transparent. De los Reyes’ remark did not sit well with Aquino, who quipped that the senator had participated in Senate investigations like the “Hello Garci" scandal and had more experience in politics. Minutes later, Delos Reyes took a different turn and virtually conceded to Aquino in the presidential race. "Senator Aquino, there is a big chance that you will be the next president, based on the surveys. I want you to succeed." On human rights The forum likewise discussed the government's performance in preventing human rights violations and prosecuting culprits. In 2007, UN Special Rapporteur Philip Alston visited the Philippines to investigate the extralegal killings of political dissidents and journalists. Alston later reported that the Arroyo regime failed to make substantive progress in addressing summary killings in the Philippines. Madrigal also assailed the Arroyo administration for supposedly ignoring the Alston Report, which also revealed that the government's denial of death squad killings in the country undermined the administration’s credibility. While the CHR remains toothless in going after human rights violators, Madrigal said that the commission was bound to improve its performance with De Lima at the helm. The senator also likened De Lima as the "light" amid the darkness of the Arroyo administration. De los Reyes said he wanted to be remembered as a president who upheld human rights by "respecting life and the dignity of the human person." Aquino, meanwhile, said the notion of human rights should not just be limited to extrajudicial killings and attacks on journalists. He explained that deprivation of fundamental rights should also be considered a human rights violation. He recounted that a gubernatorial candidate, which he did not identify, lost to his opponent who had money to dole out. "Napakadaling tanggapin ang perang pambili ng bigas kaysa makita ang kalsada nilang maayos," said Aquino. (It’s so much easier to accept money that can be used to buy rice instead of seeing their roads fixed.) The three aspirants later signed a pledge to fight corruption and human rights violations. - RJAB Jr./HGS, GMANews.TV