GREY LIST THREAT: Senate Minority Leader Franklin Drilon points at the regular threats issued by the Financial Action Task Force to the Philippines on the issue of compliance with anti-money laundering regulations during the virtual hearing of the Committee on Banks, Financial Institutions, and Currencies, Wednesday, October 28, 2020. Screen grab/ Senate PRIB
MANILA, Philippines — Two senators on Wednesday asked the government to provide the guidelines from the Financial Action Task Force (FATF) with regards the needed amendments for the Anti-Money Laundering Law.
During the hearing of the Senate committee on banks, financial institutions and currencies, Senator Grace Poe sought clarification about the Philippines’ rate of compliance to FATF’s recommended actions with regard to the country’s anti-money laundering and counter-terrorism financing measures.
Poe asked this as fresh amendments are sought to the Philippines’ Anti-Money Laundering Law amid threats of the country being placed under FATF’s “grey list” which could have repercussions to the national economy.
In the website of the FATF, a country or jurisdiction placed under its “gray-list” means “it has committed to resolve swiftly the identified strategic deficiencies within agreed timeframes and is subject to increased monitoring.”
Any of the resource speakers present, particularly the AMLC, was not able to respond.
Senate Minority Leader Franklin Drilon backed Poe’s question, saying that the government would usually get notices from the FATF regarding the matter.
Drilon was the Senate President when the original version of the country’s Anti-Money Laundering Law was passed 20 years ago.
“Regularly, we would get notices from the FATF saying that unless you do these things, you’ll be in the grey list and the threat of being in the grey list carries the threats on making remittances of our OFWs more difficult, in other words the vulnerability of our system to maintaining a good remittance system is being constantly put in issue,” Drilon explained.
It was here that Drilon started questioning if the government has any documents to rely on with regard to the country’s standing with the FATF.
“As I repeat, we have constantly been threatened, I think it’s the right [term] for lack of any — we have been threatened with sanctions. And we have constantly complied with these advices,” Drilon said.
“My question is, ano pa ba ang dapat nating gawin, bakit regularly merong binibigay sa atin na mga pangangailangan na gawin in order that we can be taken off the grey list. In other words, do we see the light at the end of the tunnel when we are completely free from these regular threats? What will it take, will this be the last time that this will happen?” he added.