If any person—or any government office—authorized it, BENECO will NOT dispute that. In fact, these people would do BENECO, a big favor if they would precisely come forward and boldly declare, “Yes! We are the ones who authorized it!” so that BENECO’s lawyers have less things to prove when this matter goes to court in a few weeks.
That is not even indispensable because it is really PNB that will have the burden of proving who authorized the withdrawal. This raises the spectre of PNB and some minor unelected government bureaucrat eventually pointing fingers at each other in a shouting match, “He made me do it!”
There’s going to be a lot of hairsplitting and legal acrobatics by those who need to rationalize their actions. But at the end of the day, the FACT remains that the OWNER of the account did not authorize the withdrawal.
From all indications, the withdrawal was made on the strength of some certification, communication or representation to the effect that NEA is calling the shots over at BENECO.
PNB believed that claim. How high a standard of credulity did PNB use?
If you’re a banker and you believe that someone who can’t even set foot in a house actually OWNS the house, you have my vote as the most naive and most gullible human being alive.
THAT is the cause of anxiety for many Baguio businessmen who keep their money in local banks.
If such a small government agency like NEA (which doesn’t even have regional offices) can gain access to a depositor’s money THAT easy—imagine what, say, the Bureau of Internal Revenue (BIR) can do.
It used to be that businessmen—and, boy, do these people tangle with BIR examiners and auditors all year long—could sleep well at night. “Due process” protects their deposits. It can never happen that anyone would just show up at the bank, flash an ID and a 1-or 2-page “Resolution” saying your deposit is fair game, and walk away with ONE MILLION PESOS, no sweat.
There are rules and the “rule of law” as enshrined in the VERY FIRST provision in the Bill of Rights guarantees that “No person shall be deprived of life, liberty, or property without due process of law, nor shall any person be denied the equal protection of the laws.”
In other words, even assuming that NEA is 1,000% justified, it is STILL not exempt from giving BENECO a sporting chance to object. That is elementary due process.
Evidently, the Bill of Rights of the 1987 Constitution is undaunting to NEA—and NEA is not even the BIR (obviously). In fact, not even during the height of the recovery effort by the Presidential Commission on Good Government (PCGG) was it ever THAT EASY to break open a private depositor’s account in Baguio.
Or just put it this way: have you ever heard of the Anti-Money Laundering Council (AMLC) garnishing a bank deposit account in Baguio?
Or what about the paramilitary Economic Intelligence and Investigation Bureau (EIIB) which stalks importers, and there are very many in Baguio--have you ever heard that elite unit storm into a bank manager’s office to siphon off ONE MILLION PESOS in anti-smuggling penalties on someone’s under-declared goods?
Think about that for a moment: BIR, PCGG, EIIB—these are the deathly-scary acronyms that used to give businessmen harrowing nightmares. Then it turns out all these three are day-old kittens compared to the new bully on the block: NEA.
Yet, that is NOT the direct cause of anxiety for businessmen. After all, so long as you keep your nose clean, and your books even cleaner, you can’t expect to get a nocturnal raid of your house, or warehouse from these three acronyms.
But suppose you have an unpaid supplier, bigtime creditor, large-scale consignor, or just plain disgruntled business partner who shows up at your friendly bank manager’s office? He flashes an ID, a board resolution, an overdue waybill, an unpaid delivery receipt, an undischarged voucher, a crossed check with an unreadable squiggly marginal note written in Egyptian hieroglyphics, or even a plain excuse letter signed by his own mother—what assurance is there that the bank would not prove too soft and give in to the demand of your business partner with a menacing growl?
We can talk about secrecy of bank deposits, but how can you expect banks to protect your confidential banking data if it can’t even guard your confidential cash?
The local chamber of business came out strongly and decried that stupidity-inspired nocturnal raid of the BENECO headquarter last October 18, 2021. I read their statement and I can summarize it into “don’t disturb our peaceful community this way!” addressing the police action that puts the Raid on Entebe to shame.
That is all fine. But in reality, the chances that NEA would do the same thing to your business ranges from zero to none. NEA is a threat to the business operation only of BENECO. But the way by which NEA demonstrated it can bambozzle a Baguio bank—THAT is a threat to the whole system of dynamics of doing business in Baguio.
This time it is not NEA anymore that is solely accountable but the city’s banking sector. What it allowed NEA to do to BENECO is a betrayal of the business community’s delicate crystalline glass trust and confidence on their moneykeepers. Of course banks can play possum and hope this thing, too, comes to pass.
Unless, of course, the business chambers come out strongly again and speak with stern intonation against this betrayal. If nothing else just to say, “hey, the last time we spoke we were just sympathizing with the sense of threat and menace that BENECO feels. This time, we are feeling the threat is now against us and we feel the menace OURSELVES.”
Then let’s watch how PNB, BPI, LBP, Rang-ay Bank and the other members of the Baguio-Benguet Bankers Association react. If they slap sanctions, or at the very least rebuke a few reprobate member banks—declare one or two bank managers “personae de culpa”—persons who have erred, that would be a refreshing breath of confidence.
But if these bankers circle the wagons and invoke the fraternal creed of “my-fellow-banker-right-or-wrong” it’s time to check out the prices of a good caja de yero.
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