BY PETER TABINGO

TWO executives of Philcomsat Holdings Corp. have invoked the Bank Secrecy Law in an attempt to stop a subpoena by the Sandiganbayan First Division on the records pertaining to a P2 million check subject of contempt proceedings against them and other respondents.

Philip Brodett, PHC director, and Johnny Tan, PHC assistant vice president and accountant, argued that the confidentiality of the papers is covered by the bank secrecy law.

The court earlier summoned an officer of the Pacific Star Building branch of the Bank of Philippine Islands to bring at the next hearing clear prints of the microfilm of the P2 million check drawn from Maxi-One Account no. 3763-0105-29 and to testify on the documents.

The First Division initiated the contempt proceedings demanding that the respondents explain, under pain of contempt, the item in PHC's expense report which reads, "9/23/05 2853 Cash - for Sandiganbayan, TRO, POTC-Philcomsat case 2,000,000" that was submitted to a Senate inquiry.

The Sandiganbayan declared it is merely exercising its inherent power in seeking an explanation on the expense report that "tends to cast aspersion upon its integrity and degrade the administration of justice."

The other respondents were PHC president Manuel Nieto, lawyers Luis Lokin and Sikini Labastilla, external auditor Virgilio Santos and Enrique Locsin, government appointee to the boards of Philippine Communication Satellite Corp (Philcomsat) and Philippine Overseas Telecommunications Corp.

Locsin, Brodett and Tan explained that the P2 million was a regular expense of the company but was given "malicious color" by the media.

In seeking production of support documents to the check, the court intends to determine who received the amount.

But Brodett and Tan claimed such inquiry by the court is improper as the intent is not to recover the amount stated in the check.

They also said the amount itself is not the subject matter of the litigation.