Minority Sen. Jinggoy Estrada Files Senate Bill 1047 Seeking for Bank Secrecy Law Amendment
JINGGOY ESTRADA – The Senator is pushing for amendments in the Bank Secrecy Law for better transparence in the fight against corruption.
Several officials of the government were tagged in the controversial flood control mess in the Philippines. A lot of congressmen as well as officials of the Department of Public Works and Highways (DPWH) are accused of involvement in the supposed multi-billion flood control corruption. The issue triggered the “Trillion Peso March”.
Some senators as well as former senators were also named in the alleged corruption issue. One of them is Sen. Jinggoy Estrada who withdrew from being a member of the bicameral conference committee in the 2026 budget process.
Estrada’s name was dragged in the issue by former DPWH Engineer Brice Hernandez who accused him and Sen. Joel Villanueva of allegedly receiving kickbacks from the flood control projects. Both senators denied the accusation of Hernandez.
The Independent Commission Infrastructure or ICI has previously recommended the filing of flood control charges against senators Jinggoy Estrada and Joel Villanueva among others. The commission was created upon the executive order.
Following the corruption accusation against him, Estrada who described himself as allegedly an “easy target” expressed openness to have his bank accounts presented for the investigation. Recently, he made a move of the Bank Secrecy Law in the Philippines.
Based on a report on GMA News, Sen. Jinggoy Estrada wants amendments on the Bank Secrecy Law to allow the Bangko Sentral ng Pilipinas to check on bank deposits over possible reasonable ground for fraud, serious irregularity, or an unlawful activity.
In the Senate Bill 1047 that he filed, Estrada claimed that the Bank Secrecy Law has allegedly turned into “a tool for abuse, particularly in shielding ill-gotten wealth, facilitating tax evasion, and obstructing efforts to combat money laundering and other financial crimes.” He believes that implementing changes on the measure can allegedly pave the way for better transparency and help fight corruption in the government.
Based on the report, Sen. Jinggoy Estrada stated in his proposed measure that the power of the BSP to check on bank deposits applies in the course of investigation of closed banks. However, it is also stated that the central bank is now allowed to look into the bank deposits of election candidates during an election period.
“Hindi dapat sinasangkalan ang bank secrecy para gumawa ng kalokohan. Kung may malinaw na dahilan ang BSP para maghinala na may katiwalian o iligal na gawain, dapat may kakayahan itong silipin ang mga account ayon sa batas,” the Senator said.
Previously, amid the issues against him, Sen. Jinggoy Estrada claimed that he will clean his name from the corruption accusations.