Palace blames previous government for gray list woes
Credit to Author: Alexis Romero| Date: Sun, 2 Mar 2025 00:00:00 +0800
MANILA, Philippines — Malacañang yesterday expressed optimism that President Marcos can clean up what it called the “mess” left behind by the Rodrigo Duterte administration, which it blamed for the Philippines’ previous inclusion in the Financial Action Task Force (FATF) gray list.
Last month, FATF, a dirty money watchdog, removed the Philippines from its gray list of countries that are under increased monitoring, but is working with the task force to address strategic deficiencies to counter money laundering and terrorist financing.
According to the task force, the Philippines strengthened the effectiveness of its efforts against money laundering and terrorism financing to meet the commitments in its action plan on the deficiencies identified in June 2021.
“We, especially the President, can clean the mess left behind by the previous administration,” Presidential Communications Undersecretary Claire Castro said in a statement in Filipino.
“Let us pray that we will remain excluded from the gray list or black list of the FATF. The President will not stop in addressing and stopping activities related to money laundering and terrorist financing,” Castro added.
The FATF black list contains countries or jurisdictions with “serious strategic deficiencies to counter money laundering, terrorist financing and financing of proliferation.”
Castro noted that the Philippines was placed in the gray list in 2021 under the presidency of Duterte, who has been attacking Marcos in various rallies organized by his allies.
“We were included in the gray list in June 2021 under the leadership of former president Duterte because of, first, the lack of regulatory supervision of gambling operations. Remember, the POGOs (Philippine offshore gaming operators) thrived that time,” she said, referring to gambling entities banned by Marcos because of their links to illegal activities.
Castro also cited what she described as weaknesses in the implementation of targeted financial sanctions.
“Even if there were reports of anomalies in transactions, especially during the pandemic, it seems that they were just neglected,” the Palace official said.
She also cited the “delays” in the implementation of the Anti-Terrorism Act of 2020, which she said happened despite the huge sums allocated to intelligence and confidential funds.
Castro said the removal of the Philippines from the gray list is a “huge accomplishment” of the Marcos administration.
“Since our President – through Executive Order No. 33 – ordered immediate action to remove our country from the gray list, the FATF saw the improvements in the Philippines with regard to money laundering and terror financing controls,” she said.
Castro said the Philippines’ removal from the gray list would help the country lure more investors and spare Filipino migrant workers from huge fees arising from the sending of remittances.
In an earlier statement, Bangko Sentral ng Pilipinas Governor Eli Remolona said the exit from the gray list was a result of strong cooperation within the government and the private sector, and complements ongoing efforts to make the financial system a stronger driver of sustainable growth.