Senator Francis "Kiko" Pangilinan questioned why the Landbank of the Philippines Malolos Highway Branch released P457 million in cash to a contractor allegedly involved in the multi-billion peso flood control corruption issue.

During the Senate Blue Ribbon hearing on Thursday, 25 Sept., Pangilinan disclosed that the Malolos branch released the amount to Syms Construction owner Sally Santos.

"Ma'am, is that the bank's practice of releasing P457 million in cash? Isn't that a red flag that should be reported? What we want to know is if our banking system is complicit in this kind of corruption?" Pangilinan asked the Landbank Malolos Highway head, Ma. Lilibeth Lim.

"How is it that our banking system turns a blind eye to hundreds of millions, half a billion pesos?" he added.

The senator expressed concern over how a state-owned bank allowed transactions amounting to hundreds of millions of pesos after Santos admitted she was able to withdraw P457 million in cash to deliver to former DPWH Bulacan assistant engineer Brice Hernandez.

"Why not a check or a manager's check? Why doesn't the bank have a policy that says, 'Wait a minute,' because if it's a check, there's a paper trail. So, cash — that's why they released P500 million cash in two days," he said.

"Our government bank did not even notice this, and most likely, you know that the government funds that were paid to your client are," he further added.

Under the law, Philippine banks can file a suspicious transaction report if a withdrawal goes beyond the P500,000 threshold, Pangilinan pointed out.

"So the half-billion cash withdrawn in two days is not a suspicious transaction?" he asked.

“As a bank manager, it’s hard to believe that it's not surprising that within two days, the government's funds can be released — half a billion pesos in cash," he added.