Lacson pushes to strengthen AMLC powers amid corruption crisis
MANILA, Philippines — Amid the administration’s largest corruption scandal, Senate President Pro Tempore Ping Lacson is eyeing a bill that grants the Anti-Money Laundering Council (AMLC) more power.
Lacson filed Senate Bill 1557, which would give the AMLC expanded powers, broadening the scope of people they could cover and updating the list of offenses under money laundering.
The veteran lawmaker said that such a measure was important to ensure that the Philippines would no longer be on the Financial Action Task Force’s (FATF) greylist. Being on the greylist means that a country needs increased monitoring in terms of money laundering, terrorist financing, and the proliferation of weapons of mass destruction.
"Recent corruption issues have highlighted the complexities of financial crimes. Updating the AMLA to meet the requirements of the times would also prevent us from being placed in the FATF Greylist again," Lacson said.
Senate Bill 1557 seeks to amend the current AMLC law.
One of the significant amendments that Lacson seeks to introduce is the expansion of the list of offenses that could predicate money laundering.
Another amendment Lacson wishes to introduce is to allow the AMLC to have subpoena powers, so they do not need to rely on a court. The bill also seeks to allow the AMLC to conduct a bank inquiry more efficiently without a court order. As it stands, the AMLC’s current power is limited to conducting a non-court-based inquiry into crimes such as kidnapping, illegal drug crimes, terrorism, terrorism financing, arson, and murder.
The AMLC should also be able to file freeze order petitions and civil forfeiture directly or through the Office of the Solicitor General.
Lacson said that the AMLC should also be allowed to suspend transactions preemptively to ward off suspected acts of money laundering, terrorism financing, or any other unlawful activity.
The new bill also expands the list of covered actors, including those buying and selling real estate, the lawyers and accountants of covered persons, online gambling operators regardless of their license classification, and virtual asset service providers.
The country is currently facing a corruption crisis, with officials and lawmakers suspected of stealing billions of pesos in massive kickback schemes.
One of the suspected conspirators, resigned lawmaker Zaldy Co, only had his assets frozen by the AMLC months after the corruption scandal first broke in September.
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