MANILA, Philippines - Former Philippine Stock Exchange (PSE) president and lawyer Francis Lim said the Senate impeachment court cannot force Philippine Savings Bank (PSBank) to disclose the details of the dollar accounts of Chief Justice Renato Corona without his consent.

Lim, a senior partner at the ACCRA Law Office, said this is clearly stated in Republic Act 6426 or the Foreign Currency Deposits Act.

Section 8 of RA reads: "All foreign currency deposits authorized under this Act are hereby declared as and considered of an absolutely confidential nature and, except upon the written permission of the depositor, in no instance shall foreign currency deposits be examined, inquired or looked into by any person, government official, bureau or office whether judicial or administrative or legislative, or any other entity whether public or private."

"The FCDU Law is clear. There is only one exception to the confidentiality of foreign currency deposits. It can be examined only with the consent of the depositor. No other exception had been provided by Congress," Lim said.

Lim argued that the FCDU law gives deposits a greater cloak of confidentiality than Republic Act 1405 or the Bank Secrecy Act.

Section 6 this law also states that all deposits with Philippine banks are "absolutely confidential" and may not be examined by any person or government official. However, it cited exemptions such as "upon written permission of the depositor, or in cases of impeachment, or upon order of a competent court in cases of bribery or dereliction of duty of public officials, or in cases where the money deposited or invested is the subject matter of the litigation."

"If it were the legislative intent to make an impeachment proceeding an exception in FCDU, Congress would have expressly provided for such exception as it did under the Bank Secrecy Law," noted Lim.

He therefore lauded PSBank for protecting the rights of Corona, which he said is important in keeping the integrity of the banking system.

"For lawyers like me who service the banking industry, PSBank deserves public admiration for boldly standing for the rights of the depositor. Looking far and beyond, this isn't about Chief Justice Corona. It's about upholding the integrity of our banking system and preserving the trust and confidence of the public in it. Needless to stress, these are extremely important nowadays in the light of the economic turmoil happening around us."

Chinese bizmen reaction

But an official of a group representing Chinese businessmen in the country does not agree with the former PSE president's view.

Cristino Lim, executive vice-president of the Chinese Filipino Business Club, believes that opening the bank account records of Corona will have no negative impact on business.

"I think the opening of this account is in accordance with our laws naman. Personally, I don't know the procedures but I think the procedures are being followed," he noted.

He said "most" of the business community are in favor of the ongoing trial to "once and for all, settle the matter."

"It will show that we are more confident in the current situation. There will no untouchable so to speak because we are willing to [make] him [accountable] for what he did." - With report from Willard Cheng, ABS-CBN News; and Coco Alcuaz, ANC