BSP WARNS
By Michelle Remo
Philippine Daily Inquirer
9:41 am | Wednesday, May 8th, 2013
FILE PHOTO
MANILA, Philippines — The Bangko Sentral ng Pilipinas raised its opposition against the “money ban” imposed by the Commission on Elections starting today, Wednesday, until May 13.
In a statement released late Tuesday, the BSP said that while the intention of the Comelec was noble, the money ban was not an appropriate means to fulfill it.
Under the money ban, which is embodied in a resolution issued by Comelec on Tuesday, any individual is barred from withdrawing an amount exceeding P100,000 a day until the election day on the 13th. Moreover, transportation and possession of P500,000 in cash also is prohibited during the period.
Comelec said the money ban was meant to curb vote buying, which is believed to be rampant during or a few days before an election day.
“The BSP supports the Comelec’s goal to ensure clean and honest elections in the Philippines. However, the BSP believes that limiting cash withdrawals to P100,000 and for the monetary authority to enforce this may not be the best way to achieve the goal,” the central bank said in the statement.
The central bank gave two reasons for its opposition.
First is that, according to the BSP, the money ban could disrupt normal business and commercial transactions in the Philippines, it said.
The monetary authority believes Comelec should pursue other means to help ensure a clean and honest elections and that sacrificing normalcy of economic activities in the country would be costly.
Second is that imposing the provisions of the money ban would be against the laws on the secrecy of peso- and foreign currency-denominated bank deposits, particularly Republic Act 1405 and 6426, respectively.
For authorities to be able to investigate suspected violations of the money ban, bank accounts of concerned individuals would have to be looked into.
“The BSP is constrained from enforcing the Comelec resolution because this would necessarily entail looking into bank deposit accounts. This is essentially unsound and in violation of RA 1405 and RA 6426,” the central bank said.
As of the evening of Tuesday, banks have not yet formally received a directive for them to implement the money ban.
Bankers said the BSP, being the regulator of banks, should be the one to issue an order to them.
The BSP, however, is unlikely to issue a directive to banks given its opposition on the money ban. But the Comelec believes especially during an election season it has the authority to implement policies that will help ensure integrity of election results.
Lorenzo Tan, president of the Bankers Association of the Philippines, said the group has not yet received any formal order for them to implement the money ban.
“We have not received any official notice from any agency or the BSP,” Tan said in a text message to the Inquirer Tuesday night.
BAP is the country’s organization of universal and commercial banks.
Similarly, the Rural Bankers Association of the Philippines (RBAP) said it has not yet gotten any formal instruction for its members to implement the money ban.
“Right now we have not been officially informed of the ban. If there is such a directive, then the Comelec should be communicating with the BSP, which in turn should be the one to give us [banks] the order because the BSP is our regulator,” Garcia told the Inquirer in a phone interview Tuesday night.
Garcia said the money ban, if implemented, would be disruptive to business.
Follow Us
Recent Stories:
Short URL: http://business.inquirer.net/?p=120859
Tags: 2013 elections , Banking , Business , Comelec , Elections , Money ban , politics
Factual errors? Contact the Philippine Daily Inquirer's day desk. Believe this article violates journalistic ethics? Contact the Inquirer's Reader's Advocate. Or write The Readers' Advocate:
seo tools
No comments:
Post a Comment