EDITORIAL - Give the AMLC more teeth

The ongoing investigations into the flood control corruption scandal as well as the impeachment trial of Vice President Sara Duterte are showing the difficulty of going after suspected dirty money.

This difficulty should give impetus for the approval of a recommendation of the Anti-Money Laundering Council. The AMLC is seeking expanded powers that will allow it to freeze criminal assets and suspend suspicious financial transactions without the need to obtain a court order.

The proposal covers virtual asset service providers and trusts. VASPs facilitate cryptocurrency or digital asset transactions for customers.

AMLC executive director Ronel Buenaventura said the proposal has gained support from certain members of both the House of Representatives and the Senate. Whether the majority of lawmakers will go along with the proposal, however, remains to be seen.

Sen. Panfilo Lacson, who once headed the Blue Ribbon committee, said at least 67 congressmen have been linked to anomalous flood control and other public works projects. Other corruption-related offenses have been imputed on several other members of both chambers of Congress.

The AMLC – along with Malacañang, which has launched a crackdown on corruption – may have to consider if the council’s proposal can instead be carried out through an executive order. The president of the republic, after all, is empowered under certain circumstances to authorize the opening of tax records without the need for a court order.

In June 2021, the FATF placed the Philippines under its gray list of jurisdictions under increased monitoring due to strategic deficiencies in combating money laundering and terrorist financing. The country exited the gray list only in February 2025.

Next year, the country will be subjected to the FATF’s global fifth round of mutual evaluation on its measures against money laundering, counter-terrorist and counter-proliferation financing.

Under the Anti-Money Laundering Act, as amended, the AMLC must seek approval from the Court of Appeals to freeze assets tied to criminal activities for an initial 20 days. The CA, which must act on the AMLC request within 24 hours, can later lift or extend the freeze for a maximum of six months.

While proposing to do away with the court order, the AMLC may also consider pushing for legislation and other measures to strictly regulate election campaign financing.

As recent controversies are showing, campaign finance has become one of the biggest dirty money laundromats in this country. FATF scrutiny of this issue could bring the Philippines back to the gray list.

Across all levels of government, successfully laundering dirty money has been one of the biggest incentives for plundering public funds. The country needs stronger weapons to fight this scourge.