House OKs watered-down changes in anti-money launder law

MANILA, Philippines - The House of Representatives approved on third and final reading last night certain changes in the Anti-Money Laundering Law.

Approval came four days after President Aquino certified Bill 4275, which contains the proposed changes, as urgent.

In a letter to Speaker Feliciano Belmonte Jr. dated Dec. 1, Aquino said the measure would make the existing law “more compliant with international standards in order that the country will not be categorized as money laundering and terrorist financing risks to the international financial system.”

Aside from banks and non-bank financial institutions, the bill expands the list of covered entities to include pawnshops, foreign exchange firms, money changers, remittance centers, and similar companies supervised by the Bangko Sentral ng Pilipinas.

It also increases the number of covered crimes, including terrorism and conspiracy to commit terrorism, financing of terrorism, bribery, malversation of public funds and property, forgeries and counterfeiting, and manufacture and dealing in illegal firearms, ammunition or explosives.

Another approved change in the law would require the Court of Appeals to issue orders freezing suspicious bank deposits and authorizing the Anti-Money Laundering Council (AMLC) to look into the details of such accounts only after “due notice and hearing.”

It was Minority Leader Edcel Lagman who proposed the requirement, which the committee on banks approved and included in the final version of the bill.

The Lagman amendment completely altered the original proposal of Representatives Rufus Rodriguez of Cagayan de Oro City and Roilo Golez of Parañaque, who wanted the AMLC to be authorized to look into and freeze suspicious accounts upon ex parte petition with the Court of Appeals.

Rodriguez said their proposal “has been watered down.”

“If you will delete that phrase (ex parte petition), it would require the court to notify the owner of the bank account. The owner of bank account can now withdraw the money believed to have been acquired from illegal means,” he said.

“We have lost the essence of the entire amendment, which practically makes the Anti-Money Laundering Law ineffective and the AMLC toothless,” he said.

The House also approved the bill creating the Department of Information and Communications Technology.