Senator Chiz Escudero on Thursday called on his colleagues in Congress to work for the passage of a bill he filed which, if approved, would enable the government to examine the bank accounts and investments of civil servants 

Escudero said that had Senate Bill No. 1476 been passed into law, government officials like State Prosecutor John Resado and former Agriculture Secretary Joc-Joc Bolante may not be able to evade questions in any hearing about their financial standing, especially in congressional inquiries.

The bill, which puts in place a mechanism that allows the government to audit the finances of a civil servant, was among the those filed by the senator during his first year as a member of the Philippine Senate.

"To ensure that the civil servant does not use his position to enrich himself, there must be transparency in the financial standing of the civil servants. Once passed, this bill will serve as deterrent to graft and corruption," he said.

Escudero explained that once passed into law, the bill requires public officials and employees to submit a written permission or waiver in favor of the anti-graft body, Office of the Ombudsman, to look into all deposits of whatever nature with banks or banking institutions.

This will effectively put a certain class of people, in this case civil servants and high government officials, beyond the protective mantle of banking secrecy laws, which are often times being used as shield in investigations involving corruption.

Escudero said people like Resado and Bolante are emboldened by the cloak of the bank secrecy law, which also leaves lawmakers' hands tied from further digging into their questionable finances.

"This covers both those within and outside the Philippines including investment bonds issued by the government" Escudero added.

The waiver, he said, should be contained in the SAL (statement of assets and liabilities) of all government officials and employees.

The senator said the passage of this bill is timely as it will not only plug loopholes in the anti-graft and corruption efforts of the government, assuming that they have some, but it will also aid the government to recover ill-gotten funds.