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Section 2 of the Law declares that all deposits of whatever nature with banks or
banking institutions in the Philippines including investments in bonds issued by
the Government of the Philippines, its political subdivisions and its
instrumentalities, are hereby considered as of an absolutely confidential nature
and may not be examined, inquired or looked into by any person, government
official, bureau or office, except 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.
Subsequent statutory enactments have expanded the list of exceptions to this
policy yet the secrecy of bank deposits still lies as the general rule, falling as it
does within the legally recognized zones of privacy.
o There is, in fact, much disfavor to construing these primary and
supplemental exceptions in a manner that would authorize unbridled
discretion, whether governmental or otherwise, in utilizing these
exceptions as authority for unwarranted inquiry into bank accounts.
o It is then perceivable that the present legal order is obliged to conserve
the absolutely confidential nature of bank deposits.
In any given jurisdiction where the right of privacy extends its scope to include an
individual’s financial privacy rights and personal financial matters, there is an
intermediate or heightened scrutiny given by courts and legislators to laws
infringing such rights.
o Should there be doubts in upholding the absolutely confidential nature
of bank deposits against affirming the authority to inquire into such
accounts, then such doubts must be resolved in favor of the former.
o This attitude persists unless congress lifts its finger to reverse the
general state policy respecting the absolutely confidential nature of bank
deposits.