The husband of Vice President Sara Duterte, Atty. Manases Reyes Carpio, has filed a criminal complaint before the Quezon City Prosecutors Office against officials of the Bangko Sentral ng Pilipinas (BSP), the Anti-Money Laundering Council (AMLC), and representatives of the House of Representatives.
Respondents Named in the Complaint
Specifically named in the complaint are BSP Governor Eli Remolona Jr., AMLC Executive Director Ronel Buenaventura, and members of the House Justice Committee: Representatives Gerville Luistro, Percival Cendaña, Chel Diokno, and Leila De Lima.
Alleged Violations
According to the statement from Carpio's legal camp, the complaint pertains to violations of the Anti-Money Laundering Act, bank secrecy laws, and the Data Privacy Act. Carpio accuses Remolona and the other respondents of illegally disclosing what he claims are classified and confidential banking records.
His camp argues that these records are protected under Republic Act 9160 (Anti-Money Laundering Act), Republic Act 1405 (Bank Secrecy Law), and Republic Act 10173 (Data Privacy Act).
Loss of Legal Recourse
Carpio further asserts that he was deprived of the opportunity to take legal action as a defense not only for himself, his wife, and his family, but especially for the banking and financial community. He believes that under the amended Anti-Money Laundering Act, the confidentiality and protection of bank records are absolute and without exception.
Context of the Disclosure
It will be recalled that the AMLC itself disclosed during a House Justice Committee hearing information regarding over PHP 6 billion in suspicious and covered transactions linked to Carpio and the Vice President. Of this amount, PHP 4.525 billion was deposited into their accounts, PHP 1.554 billion was withdrawn, while PHP 791 million could not be determined as inflow or outflow.
Carpio described the information made public by the council as being used for black propaganda and political harassment aimed at destroying the reputation of Vice President Sara Duterte and the Duterte family.
Focus of the Complaint
His legal counsel emphasized that the complaint does not address the veracity of the suspicious transactions presented to the committee. Instead, it focuses strictly on the alleged violations of the aforementioned laws.
Atty. Peter Danao noted that Carpio is not a party to the impeachment proceedings and is acting as a private individual.
