I'm Giancarlo Enrico S. Pozon, a Wushu instructor, investor and Barrister... That's right, Barrister; I graduated from law school and took the Bar Exams, now I'm waiting for the results. I created this blog to make Philippine Law easy to understand for the average person. It's all about free legal advice. There are many law blogs. But the problem is that many of them are written for lawyers and law students. They use words that can't be understood by ordinary people.
Many lawyers, judges and law students consider themselves as superior to most human beings because of their knowledge of the law. It bothers me since the law is supposed to serve society. Since the law is meant to serve society as a whole, it is important that is must be understood by everybody.
This does not mean that we should all become lawyers. It means that although law is a highly specialized profession, the first duty of everybody in this profession is to make the law understandable to all; that's why all these articles are free legal advice.
Like I said, this blog is about law -but it's for the ordinary people, not the lawyers. It's for the ordinary folk so they will know what is good and bad for them, and that making them aware of the law will help us all improve society as a whole. This is free legal advice for everybody!
Here's a law that a lot of you will love. It's old (written in 1955, a reminder of the glorious Magsaysay Administration,) the famed RA 1405: the Bank Secrecy Law.
The aim of this law is to encourage the growth of banking and, in effect, provide greater business financing services to the people. It's short, only six (6) sections. But those sections can save you a lot of money.
Section 2 says all deposits, including bonds, are to be held in absolute confidence and nobody, including the government, can look into them except in the following cases:
1.) Upon your written consent (not verbal!)
2.) In cases of impeachment or misbehavior of government officials
3.) If the money is the subject matter of a case (such as in estate proceedings.)
4.) Disclosure of dormant deposits under the Unclaimed Balances Act (Act 3936)
5.) Inquiry/examination by the AMLC under lawful court order in cases of money laundering when probable cause exists (but a court order isn't needed in the following cases: kidnapping for ransom, hijacking, destructive arson, murder, acts of terrorism, drug trafficking and related activities)
6.) The BIR -but only in cases to determine the net estate of a deceased person and if there is a waiver on the part of the depositor
7.) Upon a court order in cases involving unexplained wealth under the Anti-graft and Corrupt Practices Act (RA 3019)
8.) On a court order where the money in the account is the subject of the case
Examination of all deposits and disclosure by bank personnel to unauthorized people is prohibited
Government people, including the BIR people, cannot look at your bank records except in any of the instances mentioned. So if the tax man picks up your bank passbook from your desk, you can bring him up on charges. All banks, as well as their personnel are also prohibited from disclosing their records except if any of the eight (8) instances are mentioned. Violations of this law are punished by a prison sentence of up to five (5) years, a fine of P20,000, or both.
So if your friendly neighborhood tax collector shows up in your office and sees your bankbook (or checkbook) lying on the table, please give him this friendly reminder.
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