Senate President Chiz Escudero Courtesy: Senate of the Philippines
SENATE President Francis “Chiz” G. Escudero has renewed his call for transparency and accountability in government by refiling a measure that mandates all public officials and employees to waive their rights under Republic Act No. 1405, or the Law on the Secrecy of Bank Deposits, and Republic Act No. 6426, or the Foreign Currency Deposit Act.
Under the Escudero bill, government personnel–except those serving in an honorary capacity–will be required to submit a written waiver authorizing the Office of the Ombudsman to examine all their deposits and investments, including foreign currency accounts, in a fresh bid to reinforce anti-corruption efforts and bolster public trust in government institutions.
“This bill has languished for too long,” the Senate chief said, referring to its previous iterations. “I’m hopeful that this time, we can turn the rhetoric of transparency into actionable policy.”
He has been filing the bill on lifting the confidentiality of bank deposits since 2013, grounded in the belief that public office is a public trust and that all government officials and employees are accountable to the public.
The measure, if approved, will ensure that no civil servant–regardless of rank–can use his or her position to plunder public coffers.
The veteran legislator emphasized that the secrecy of bank deposits, while historically enacted to encourage savings and economic development, now acts as a shield for illicit activity.
“The laws may have served their purpose in the past, but their rigidity has enabled corruption to thrive under the guise of confidentiality,” he said. “We are the last country standing in preserving absolute secrecy. That distinction doesn’t protect democracy but rather, it undermines it.”
He cited the bill’s explanatory note, which warns that institutions can be exploited to hide illegal wealth, launder money, evade taxes, and commit other financial crimes under a statutorily mandated veil.
“Verily, any person who has nothing to hide in secret would only welcome this proposal in the name of transparency and accountability,” the Senate chief wrote in the explanatory note, adding that government itself should lead the charge for reform and signal a systemic shift toward openness.
In addition to the proposed waiver of bank secrecy, the veteran legislator has filed on Monday the following bills he wanted prioritized by the 20th Congress:
- An act prohibiting interference by national government agencies in the use of the National Tax Allotment and locally-generated revenues of Local Government Units
- A measure to further strengthen local autonomy by amending the Local Government Code of 1991 (RA 7160)
- An act providing temporary tax relief to micro, small and medium enterprises (MSMEs) to boost business competitiveness
- An act reducing compliance costs for MSMEs by amending the National Internal Revenue Code
- An act increasing and automatically adjusting the Personnel Economic Relief Allowance (PERA) for government employees
- An act reinstating mandatory credit allocation for MSMEs and penalizing noncompliance
- An act updating the Condominium Act (RA 4726) to promote responsible redevelopment
- An act creating a Tripartite Council to address unemployment, job-skills mismatch, and tech-induced displacement, and
- An act lowering the compulsory retirement age of DepEd personnel from 65 to 60 years old.
