INIHAYAG ni Senador Grace Poe na nakatakdang isama ang real estate brokers at developers at apat pang amendments sa Anti-Money Laundering Act upang lumakas ang sandata ng pamahalaan laban sa money laundering.

Sa kanyang opening statement sa pagsisimula ng pagdinig ng Senate committee on banks, financial institutions at currencies, sinabi ni Poe na hindi lamang kailangan maipasa ang mga amendments kundi kailangan din natin magpakita ng nasasalat at positibong progreso sa ating anti-money laundering at counter-terrorist financial regime.

“The country’s financial experts want us to treat this as a form of national economic emergency, the same way we treated the pandemic as a national health emergency,” ayon kay Poe.

Ayon kay Poe, narito ang ilang panukalang amendments sa AMLA: 1. Inclusion of real estate brokers and developers; 2. Inclusion of tax crimes and violations of the Strategic Trade and Management Act relative to financing of weapons of mass destruction; 3. Authorizing the AMLC to implement targeted financial sanctions; 4. Authorizing the AMLC to preserve assets subject of these orders; 5. Prohibition of injunction against the freeze orders and forfeiture powers; at 6. Expansion of the investigative powers of the AMLC to subpoena and contempt powers.

Ipinaliwanag ni Poe na noong 2000, naisama ang Pilipinas sa listahan ng non-cooperative countries at territories kaya naisabatas ang Republic Act (RA) 9160 othe Anti-Money Laundering Act of 2001 upang remedyuhan ang isyu.

Bukod dito, noong 2008, lumitaw ang banta na posibleng mailagay tayo sa grey-listing kaya naisabatas ang RA 10168 at 10365 noong 2012 at 2013.

“This happened again in 2017 which resulted in the passage of RA 10927,” ayon kay Poe.

Aniya, dalawampung taon at apat na batas ang nakalipas, nahaharap na tayo sa urgent period upang rebyuhin ang kahusayan ng ating kasalukuyang legal framework upang labanan ang money laundering.

“It is a global nuisance which we committed to address when we joined the Asia/Pacific Group on Money Laundering,” paliwanag pa ni Poe. ESTONG REYES)