Removal from FATF watchlist seen to further boost PH reputation

By Wilnard Bacelonia, Philippine News Agency

In a news release on Monday, Escudero said FATF’s decision to remove the Philippines from its watchlist is also a result of decades-long, non-stop efforts of authorities to regain global trust, do away with cumbersome money transactions for Filipino workers overseas and make the economy more appealing as a safe investment destination. (File Photo: Senate of the Philippines/Facebook)

MANILA – Senate President Francis Escudero believes that the commitment of President Ferdinand R. Marcos Jr.’s administration to go after dirty money paved the way for the Philippines to be taken off the gray list of the Paris-based Financial Action Task Force (FATF).

In a news release on Monday, Escudero said FATF’s decision to remove the Philippines from its watchlist is also a result of decades-long, non-stop efforts of authorities to regain global trust, do away with cumbersome money transactions for Filipino workers overseas and make the economy more appealing as a safe investment destination.

“Being removed from the gray list of the FATF is the culmination of all the efforts of the Philippine government. This sends a strong message to the international community that we are a country that abides by laws and takes the matter of going after financing of criminal elements seriously,” Escudero said.

The senator said he has been closely monitoring the efforts of the country to be removed from the watchlist. He recalled that when he was the chairperson of the Senate’s Committee on Banks, Financial Institutions and Currencies in 2017, he worked for the amendments to the Anti-Money Laundering Act after the country was almost blacklisted by the FATF.

It was during this time that casinos were included in the coverage of the Anti-Money Laundering Act as recommended by the FATF.

“Since then, we have continuously worked with the FATF to address the remaining obstacles to our removal from its watchlist. We thank President Ferdinand (R.) Marcos Jr. for making this one of his administration’s priorities, as well as all the National AML/CFT (anti-money laundering/combating the financing of terrorism) Coordinating Committee led by Executive Secretary Lucas Bersamin for seeing this through to the end,” Escudero said.

Looking back, he explained that inclusion in FATF’s watchlist made it more difficult for the country to obtain credit and discouraged foreign banks from transacting with their Philippine counterparts.

This also meant that the cost of sending money to the Philippines, particularly by overseas Filipino Workers, increased and led to the utilization of non-official channels.

“It is the reputation of the Philippines in the international community that is at stake here. Now that we have hurdled this long-standing obstacle, we expect to see even more investment inflows into the country, as well as easier and less expensive transactions for our OFWs wherever they are situated,” Escudero said.