MANILA -- The Marcos administration will implement several measures to halt the entry of funds from abroad to finance terrorist activities, an official of the anti-money laundering body said on Tuesday.
Matthew David, the Executive Director of the Anti-Money Laundering Council (AMLC) Secretariat, told a press briefing in Malacañang on Tuesday that there are three action items regarding terrorism financing.
First is identifying terrorism financing, which means law enforcement agencies and the AMLC will have to identity persons of interest or possible terrorist or terrorism financiers, he said.
Other action items also include investigating terrorism financing by law enforcement agencies and eventually prosecuting and filing of cases against those involved in financing terrorism.
“Three action items po ito na we need or the law enforcement agencies will have to address eventually as part of our goal to exit the grey list,” David said, referring to the inclusion of the Philippines in the list of countries in risk of money laundering from casino junkets and lack of prosecution for terrorism funding cases.
The country was included in the grey list in June 2021 by Financial Action Task Force, an intergovernmental organization combating money laundering and terrorism financing.
According to David, there are organizations, non-government organizations (NGOs), and designated terrorist organizations that are receiving illicit funds from abroad.
The AMLC has filed cases for terrorism financing which are now pending in court, he added.
President Ferdinand R. Marcos Jr. has directed the AMLC and all concerned government agencies to address the remaining strategic deficiencies so that the Philippines could be delisted from the global money laundering ‘grey list’ this year.
During the sectoral meeting on Tuesday, the President reiterated his order to strengthen efforts that would ensure that the Philippines will not be a money laundering site for any unlawful activities through Executive Order No. 33 issued last year. (PND)
