 Buenaventura was repeatedly attacked by irate congressmen, who accused the BSP of attempting to amass power that would allow it to poke into the private accounts of individuals it considered suspicious.Legislators did not want the BSP peeking into private accounts, fearing that such power would be used as a political tool to ferret out ill-gotten wealth that was being laundered through banks.The debates lasted almost a year, with Buenaventura spending much of his time explaining international anti-money laundering laws and procedures, convincing lawmakers that the Philippines would be merely complying with standards already in use in the rest of the world.