“Definitely we are working with everyone to ensure there is transparency and to know what really happened and how to prevent it from happening again,” Communications undersecretary Manolo Quezon said over state-run DZRB, highlighting the actions undertaken by the Anti-Money Laundering Council and the Court of Appeals in freezing the bank accounts involved in the alleged scheme.

“So what does this tell us? First of all, it shows that we are a responsible member of the banking community,” he added.

The Senate is currently conducting an investigation on the cross-border electronic fraud and money laundering scheme where $81 million from the central bank of Bangladesh slipped through the Philippine financial system, with local bank Rizal Commercial Banking Corp. (RCBC) at the center of the controversy.

Despite the heist, Quezon assured the public, especially account holders, that there is nothing to worry about regarding the security and integrity of Philippine banking as all systems are working.

“When the money entered the Philippines as far as we can tell, our system was shown to work because the alarm bells started ringing and and then the other countries also alerted us and in fact, there have been reports that AMLC is working with Federal Bureau of Investigation and United States,” Quezon said.

“We should be aware that the Central Bank of the Philippines is taking this seriously and the AMLC shows that it is doing its job. The Senate is holding hearings in aid of legislation and in fact the Bangko Sentral and the BIR have been giving their recommendations,” he added.

Less than three months before President Benigno Aquino III steps down from office, Quezon said the “groundwork is being laid for future reforms” that would improve the country’s financial system.

“Again, with our countrymen growing apprehensive thinking that this puts the country in a bad light, I think you can see even from media coverage here and abroad that there will be officials held liable, especially from the bank involved, and that’s what’s being investigated now, but on the whole, you can see that the system is working,” he said.

“In other words, it has been exposed, investigated, uncovered and action has been taken to address this disturbing incident and how this money has been taken from a central bank and transmitted to different parts of the world.”