Vice President Jejomar C. Binay yesterday said the leak of the Anti-Money Laundering Council (AMLC) report that led to the freezing of 242 bank accounts is sending a “chilling effect” on the business community and the banking system.
He stressed this at the 36th National Conference of Employers of the Employers’ Confederation of the Philippines (ECOP) in Pasay City yesterday.
The Vice President described the AMLC report as “whimsical” and expressed hope that the issue would be resolved soon.
“Let us all hope this whimsical use of regulatory powers is stopped sooner than later. It creates a chilling effect on confidence in business and banking system that is detrimental to our economy and development,” Binay told the ECOP gathering.
In a jest, Binay said he hopes no one among the participants will be invited to attend the Senate Blue Ribbon subcommittee hearings for being called his friend.
“Now that I have referred to you as dear friends, I hope you will not get an instant invitation from the Senate Blue Ribbon subcommittee to prove you are not my dummies, and your companies, not my dummy corporations,” he quipped.
“It is also my prayer your bank accounts will not be subjected by AMLC to a freeze order solely on the basis of our friendship and association, or the fact that you are in the same room as Jojo Binay,” he added.
The Vice President lamented the order, saying it is being used to persecute persons affiliated with him.
“Such is the sad fate of some honest and hardworking businesspersons I know. They were publicly ridiculed, intimidated, and harassed, and their bank accounts now frozen simply because they happened to be my friends,” he said.
Manila Bulletin
