MANILA, Philippines- Ipinalabas ng Bangko Sentral ng Pilipinas (BSP) ang guidelines para sa pagmonitor ng supervised financial institutions sa posibleng isinagawang vote-buying activities sa pamamagitan ng online banking at mobile wallet applications.
Ibinahagi ng Commission on Elections (Comelec) Chairman George Garcia ang kopya ng BSP Memorandum No. M-2023-30, ipinalabas noong Oktubre 10 at nilagdaan ni BSP Deputy Governor Chuchi Fonacier.
“To mitigate the heightened risk of the possible use or misuse of digital channels (i.e., online banking, mobile wallet applications) in vote-buying/selling activities, [BSP-supervised financial institutions (BSFIs)] should reinforce their measures and controls to ensure that appropriate customer onboarding processes, effective farug management system (FMS) and ongoing account and transaction monitoring capabilities are commensurate to respond to these fraudulent activities,” nakasaad sa memorandum.
Sinabi ng BSP sa BSFIs na ikonsidera ang sumusunod na posibleng senaryo ng pag-calibrate ng kanilang FMS at “account and transaction monitoring rules and parameters: Concentration and/or significant number of account registrations in the area or locality where vote-buying/selling is identified to be rampant; Large cash transactions during election period; Unusual transaction flows between accounts, including the velocity and frequency of transactions (i.e, may-to-one, one-to-many) at Unusual volume and/or value in cash in/cash out channels (agents).”
Tinukoy ng BSP ang Section 922 ng “Manual of Regulations for Banks/Section 922Q of the Manual of Regulations for Non-Bank Financial Institutions, in relation to Section 3 (b-1) and Section 9 (c ) of the Anti-Money Laundering Act of 2001 as amended, and Section 1, Rule 3 and Rule 22 of its 2018 Implementing Rules and Regulations.”
“Under these rules, the BSP said BSFIs should submit suspicious transaction reports to the Anti-Money Laundering Council, when warranted, after due investigation of complex, unusually large transactions, unusual patterns of transactions, which have no underlying legal/trade obligation, purpose or economic justification, or the amount involved is not commensurate with the business or financial profile of the client and other transactions that may be considered suspicious,” ang nakasaad pa rin sa memorandum.
Ang memorandum ay ipinalabas “in line with the national government and the Commission on Election’s efforts to curb vote-buying and vote-selling, especially in the upcoming Synchronized Barangay and Sangguniang Kabataan Elections.”
“[T]he BSP strongly calls for the adoption of enhanced surveillance and monitoring measures to prevent the misuse of the financial institutions as conduits for this illegal activity. BSFIs are likewise urged to tighten their existing controls in detecting or preventing the possible influx of fraudulent accounts and transactions as the election date approaches,” ayon pa rin sa memorandum.
Bago ang Oktubre 30 BSKE, lumikha ang Comelec ng Committee on Kontra Bigay na inaasahan na imbestigahan at maghain ng kaso laban sa indibidwal na sangkot sa vote-buying at vote-selling.
“This committee evolved from the 2022 national and local elections’ Task Force Kontra-Bigay,” ayon sa ulat.
Sa kasalukuyan ay nakapaghain na ang komite kontra vote-buying ng disqualification petitions laban sa limang BSKE candidates.
Ang vote-buying and vote-selling ay kinokonsidera bilang election offense sa ilalim ng Section 261 ng Omnibus Election Code.
Ang sinumang mapapatunayang guilty sa election offense ay papatawan ng parusa na may pagkabilanggo ng hindi bababa sa isang taon at hindi naman lalampas sa anim na taon.
Sinumang mapatutunayang guilty ay hindi papayagang bumoto at pagbabawalan na humawak ng anumang public office, at ang political party na mapatutunayang guilty sa vote-buying ay pagmumultahin. Kris Jose
