3 Presidential bets to waive rights to bank secrecy

Senators Benigno "Noynoy" Aquino III and Ma. Ana Consuelo “Jamby” Madrigal and Olongapo city councilor JC De Los Reyes pledged Tuesday to waive their rights under the Bank Secrecy Law to open their accounts to the public if elected president.
Appearing at the Second Integrity and Human Rights Conference at Hotel Intercontinental Manila, Aquino said he would do so to prove his sincerity in fighting corruption.
But he said he would not presume that members of his Cabinet would do the same, as bank accounts were in the realm of individuals' privacy, protected by the Bill of Rights.
De Los Reyes said he would extend this waiver to his wife. "They won't find anything (in our accounts) anyway," he said.
Madrigal said she would also oblige her Cabinet to waive their bank secrecy rights. She said she was not beholden to anybody except to her dead relatives, who had served the country with integrity.
The event was organized by the Commission on Human Rights, in partnership with Bisyon 2020, Transparency International Philippines, the United Nations Development Programme, Civil Service Commission, among others, with the aim of formulating a covenant to usher in “a new paradigm on integrity and human rights for the new government.”