MANILA— Partido Reporma standard bearer Sen. Panfilo Lacson on Thursday said he would waive his rights under the Bank Secrecy Law and urge other government officials to do so should he win the 2022 presidential race.

This would “set the tone for a disciplined and corruption-free bureaucracy” to help restore the public’s trust in government, Lacson said at the Philippine Chamber of Commerce and Industry's 47th Philippine Business Conference and Expo.

"To ensure our people that 'leadership by example' will set the tone of my administration, I will lead the way by signing a waiver of my rights under the Bank Secrecy Law and encourage all the members of the cabinet, down to the rank and file to do the same," he said.


"This will happen on my first day in office, not in the first 100 days. This will signal our commitment to restoring the trust of our people in their public officials," he said.

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A Lacson administration “will also lay the foundation for a clean government,” the senator said.

In 2019, Lacson filed Senate Bill No. 26 which exempts from the Bank Secrecy Act "all depositors who are elective or appointive officials or employees of the government, from the President down to the lowest-ranking employee.”

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Also covered by the bill are members of the uniformed services and government-owned and controlled corporations, it says.

The bill gives law enforcers "the tools needed to go after crooks in government," said Lacson's office.

The Bank Secrecy Act, passed in 1955, covers "all deposits of whatever nature with banks or banking institutions in the Philippines."

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