The Department of Justice has supported the enactment into law of a measure extending the period covered by the anti-graft law, a move that fits into the proposal of Senator Panfilo Lacson to exclude suspected ill-gotten wealth of public officials from the coverage of the bank secrecy law.
In a legal opinion sent to Malacañang, DoJ’s former undersecretary Zabedin Azis did not object to the consolidated House Bill No. 4146 and Senate Bill No. 2422 that both sought to increase the prescriptive period for violations of Republic Act 3019 (Anti-Graft and Corrupt Practices Act) from 15 years to 20 years.
The measures specifically seek to amend section 11 of the law and expand the prescriptive period or the period within which a complaint for violation of R.A. 3019 can be filed counting from the date of commission of the alleged act.
“This department finds no legal objection to the passage of the consolidated enrolled bill since after a careful review and evaluation of the text of the same shows that there is nothing in the said bill that is inconsistent with the Constitution or other pertinent laws,” the DoJ opinion stated.
The Justice department said it has also actively participated in the earlier deliberations and passage of the two bills in Congress.
Proponents of the measure led by former House Deputy Speaker and Isabela Rep. Giorgidi Aggabao earlier explained that extending the prescriptive period would ensure that those who commit graft and corruption in government would not be able to escape liability by mere technicality of the current 15-year prescription period.
If enacted, it would be the second extension of the prescriptive period of R.A. 3019.
When the anti-graft law was enacted in August 1960, the original prescriptive period was 10 years. It was amended in 1982 by virtue of Batas Pambansa Bilang 195 that extended the prescriptive period to 15 years.
For his part, Senator Panfilo Lacson’s Senate Bill 47 effectively removes from all public servants the “protection” afforded by Republic Act 1405, which prohibits disclosure or inquiry into bank deposits.
Also covered by the Lacson bill are members of the uniformed services, as well as of government-owned and controlled corporations (GOCCs).
Lacson said the avowed purpose of the law (Bank Secrecy Act) is meritorious in preserving the confidentiality of bank transactions this provision of the law had been exploited time and again to hamper and stall investigations of government officials and employees suspected of enriching themselves while in public office.
The present law, which was passed as early as 1955, covers “all deposits of whatever nature with banks or banking institutions in the Philippines.”