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Senators call for safeguards to bank secrecy easing
' SENAToRS signaled cadion on easing bank secre€y
larvs, one of the isu€s that led Malacanang to geto
parb of Republi( Aat na3 0r the Tax Amnesty Law,
notinq ttEt sieqla{ds are needed to prevent the use
of b€at( accoft inquiries to harass taxpayeR
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Sendo( gterwln Gatchalian said pmvbiorE to
e6e ba* s€crecy in a general tax amnesty p{ognm
reqie'a balancing act" of the various interests
becre bank account probes could be used fol
fli€nt
'We need to put safeguards in placejust to
rnake sure that the banksecrery relaxation will only
be used for identifying fraud or tax evasion. lfs a
delicate balance, he said in a phone interview on
Tuesday.
"lfs L.ue that when you apply for an amnesty,
should be a fiB€hanism wherein people willnotevade
their tax€s and one of the tools is t0 relax bank secrecy.
&rt relaxing banksecrecy can also be used to extort,
haBs, (so) we have to make sure that safeguards are
tlEre. We have to have balance.lt's a balancing act,"
lle added.
ln his veto message on Feb.14, Mr. Duterte noted
that the objective 0fthe amnesty p.oqrdm may not
effectively be carried out dueto the absence ofprovi
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{*rsi:m*s\trhdd
WEDIIESDAY, FEBRUARY 20, 2OI9
sions llftirE bank secrecy, the automatic exchange executive branches to agree on the parameters of
of information ryithforeign tax authorities, and the generaltax amnesty proposalto prevent another
mechanism to ersiire the truthfulnes of asset 0r net veto.
declaratiorEin nnestyapplications. "lthink we should sitwith the Executive depart-
The President abo called on C0ngrs t0 pass mentfirstand agreeonthe parameters s0 we d0 not
another genenltax amnesty billthat would include the wasie time and effort, not t0 mention the money
safeguards the enrolled bill lacked. The Department wasted on hearings and sesionsthat could have been
of Finance (DoF) has said the bank secrecy plovisions spentfor other agreeable legislation," he told reporters
h dss- would allow the govemment to verify clains made by in a mobile phone message.
taxpayers in their amn€sty applications. sen. Panfilo M. Lacson 0n Monday expressed sup-
sen. JoelJ. Villarueva, vice chair 0fthe Senate portforthe passage of a generaltax amnesty billin the
committee 0n ways ard means, said the yeto mesag€ lSrh congresswith provisions requested by l'lt Duterte,
ofthe President vras redonable and expresed support but noted that lawmakers may be "wary" over the issue
torthe inclusion of sudrsafeguards if the measure is of relaxed bankiecrecy.
reintroduc€d in the l8s Congress. House committee on waysand means chair Estlelita
here "The rationaleforthe President'sveto on the qen- B. suansing earlier expressed optimism that a general
eraltax amnesty provisions is reasonable. we supporl tax amnesty billcould be passed within thelTth con-
the need to strengthen the exchange 0f inforrnation, gress, while her Senate counterpart, Sen. iuan Edgardo
to the waiver 0fthe bank sesecy law infraud cases, and !1. Angara, hassaid the measure could be tackled in
safeguards 0n the truthfti declaration ol asets and net the next Congress, due to the lack of time left in the lTth
worth," he said in a text mesage. Congress.
"We will consider it vrhen the bill is refiled in the lSs congress is on its Feb.9 to May 19 breakforthe May
Congress," he added. 13 midterm elections.lt will resume session between
Senate President V-rcente C. Sotto lll on Tuesday l'1ay 20 and June 27 before the l7'h Conqreas concludes.
said there was a need for both the legislative and - CanilleA. Aguinaldo
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