Concurring Opinion re PSBank TRO: “bank secrecy remains the general rule.”
Here is the concurring opinion of the Supreme Court re G.R. No. 200238 – PHILIPPINE SAVINGS BANK and PASCUAL M. GARCIA III, as representative of Philippine Savings Bank and his personal capacity, Petitioners, v. SENATE IMPEACHMENT COURT
The view expressed that the majority’s TRO is “a mockery of all existing laws designed to insure transparency and good governance in public service”[27] is likewise not well taken. This view declares that “the majority ruling advises all government officials and employees that they can legally evade reporting their actual assets in their Statement of Assets, Liabilities, and Net Worth x x x by simply opening foreign currency deposit accounts with local banks.”[28]
The majority makes no such ruling in granting the TRO. The question the Court has resolved for now is whether the facts and the law justify the issuance of a TRO. The object of a TRO, as earlier mentioned, is to simply maintain the status quo. The TRO, to be sure, is not a ruling encouraging public officials to use foreign deposits to legally evade the correct SALN report. To so claim is to extend the import of TRO beyond its clear objective to maintain the status quo.
In light of these considerations, I reiterate my vote for the grant of the petitioner’s prayer for the issuance of the TRO.
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Noemi Lardizabal-Dado
Noemi Lardizabal-Dado is a Content Strategist with over 16 years experience in blogging, content management, citizen advocacy and media literacy and over 26 years in web development. Otherwise known as @MomBlogger on social media, she believes in making a difference in the lives of her children by advocating social change for social good. She is a co-founder and a member of the editorial board of Blog Watch . She is a resource speaker on media literacy, social media , blogging, digital citizenship, good governance, transparency, parenting, women’s rights and wellness, and cyber safety. Her personal blogs such as aboutmyrecovery.com (parenting) , pinoyfoodblog.com (recipes), techiegadgets.com (gadgets) and benguetarabica.coffee keep her busy outside of Blog Watch. Disclosure: I am an advocate. I am NOT neutral. I will NOT give social media mileage to members of political clans, epal, a previous candidate for the same position and those I believe are a waste of taxpayers' money. I do not support or belong to any political party. I was part of accredited media covering the Office of the Vice President and Leni Robredo as she ran as a presidential aspirant in the 2022 National and local elections. On August 5, 2021, YouTube announced that I was selected as one of 50 Program participants of its Creator Program for Independent Journalists She was a Senior Consultant for ALL media engagements for the PCOO-led Committee on Media Affairs & Strategic Communications (CMASC) under the ASEAN 2017 National Organizing Council from January 4 -July 5, 2017. Having been an ASEAN advocate since 2011, she has written extensively about the benefits of the ASEAN community and as a region of opportunities on Blog Watch and aboutmyrecovery.com. Organization affiliation includes Consortium on Democracy and Disinformation Updated June 6, 2022