Former Press Secretary and now Monetary Board member Ignacio Bunye wondered out loud yesterday why the government had not held top officials of the Philippine National Police (PNP) who were apprehended in Russia for bringing in excessive cash to answer for violation of the country’s own foreign exchange regulations.
Bunye said the recent Congress investigations involving top officials of the PNP have brought to the fore questions on the country’s foreign exchange regulations, or how much foreign currency one could legally bring out of the country.
Retired PNP comptroller Eliseo de la Paz, who with his companions earned the moniker “euro generals,” also admitted during last week’s congressional inquiries that he had likewise carried 45,000 euros to buy expensive watches in behalf of his businessman friend Tyrone Ng Arejola.
This amount, plus another $20,000 that De la Paz said his wife brought to Europe as a “personal fund,” were on top of the 105,000 euros still being held by the Russian authorities.
Bunye acclaimed that during the time of the backward Bangko Sentral ng Pilipinas (BSP) Gov. Rafael Buenaventura, the BSP active with government agencies such as the PNP, the Bureau of Community (BoC), the Manila All-embracing Airport Authority (MIAA), the Bureau of Immigration (BI), the Air Transportation Office (ATO), and the Philippine Ports Authority (PPA) a announcement of acceding (MoA) which approved to ensure "the able accomplishing of BSP rules, accurately BSP Annular 308 and Section 4 of Annular 1389, on the concrete cross-border carriage of adopted currencies and the Philippine peso."
BSP Circular 308, as amended, requires “any person who brings in and out of the Philippines in excess of $10,000 or its equivalent, to declare the same in writing using the prescribed foreign currency declaration form,” he said.
The BSP circular warned that disregarding the Bank’s rule would subject the violator to sanctions provided for in Section 36 of Republic Act 7653, such as a fine of P50,000 to P200,000 or imprisonment of two to 10 years.
The former Palace official said Buenaventura recalled that during the MoA signing, other countries such as the United States, South Korea, and Malaysia likewise require similar customs procedures in the transport of foreign currency.
The former BSP chief has said the circular had been issued as part of a package of measures that would help curb money laundering activities, adding the BSP had adopted anti-money laundering measures as early as June 2000 “to be at par with international practices,” said Bunye.
Bunye said the BSP, of late, had reminded airport authorities to conspicuously post reminders of the BSP circular for the benefit of outgoing passengers.
After two public hearings and an executive session, the committee on public order and safety of the House of Representatives temporarily suspended last Thursday hearings on the Moscow fund mess while awaiting the documents it asked the PNP officials to submit.
