Bankers ask SC to lift money ban

MANILA, Philippines – [UPDATED] The umbrella organization of the country’s major banks and a businessman asked the Supreme Court on Thursday, May 9, to stop the Commission on Elections (Comelec) from enforcing the money ban. 

The Bankers Association of the Philippines and businessman Perry Pe sought a temporary restraining order or a status quo ante order from the High Court days after the Comelec issued Resolution No. 9688, which limits cash withdrawals to P100,000 from May 8 to May 13, the election day. 

The poll body introduced the money ban to limit vote-buying.

Comelec amended the said resolution, however, on May 9 and exempted those who regularly withdraw more than P100,000.

The petitioners said that Comelec exceeded its jurisdiction when it introduced the money ban, saying only the Bangko Sentral ng Pilipinas can regulate how much cash a person can use. 

They added that the ban is “oppressive,” because it curtails legitimate activity. “Vote buying can be controlled through more effective and less intrusive means,” they said. 

The money ban has also been criticized by the Bangko Sentral ng Pilipinas (BSP), which questioned its legal basis.

The BSP said it is “constrained from enforcing the Comelec resolution because this would necessarily entail looking into bank deposit accounts.” It criticized the resolution as “essentially unsound.”

In its separate petition urgent ex-parte motion for a special raffle, the group said that the extent “by which commercial and business transactions will be hampered by the Money Ban resolution cannot be measured with reasonable accuracy.” 

It added that certain businesses or commercial entities need to withdraw huge amounts of money on a weekly basis to pay employees and suppliers. Small enterprises even operate on cash on a daily basis. If the money ban is implemented, it will lead to a “slowdown of transactions.”

“The opportunity costs and inability to proper conduct business and inadequate cash flows for the six-day period covered by the Money Ban resolution cannot be recovered or properly compensated in a court of law,” they said. 

“We appreciate the reconsideration made by the Comelec,” BAP president Lorenzo Tan said. “However, the BAP believes the amended Comelec resolution on the money ban places undue burden on banks, which now are given “discretion” to apply the money ban based on “regular” and “non-regular” clients.”

“The banks have a legal and contractual obligation to release deposits to all withdrawing clients. The new Comelec resolution constitutes undue delegation to banks to determine whether a withdrawal will be used for vote buying or vote selling. Key policies were never intended by any law to guarantee against vote buying/selling, nor are these policies capable of addressing such a crime. The resolution unduly exposes banks to civil and criminal liabilities under election laws.” 

 – Rappler.com