THE Philippines should not allow itself to be dictated upon by the inter-governmental Financial Action Task Force (FATF) regarding the country’s obligations in complying with the group’s requirements, Senate President Juan Ponce Enrile said on Friday.

Enrile’s statement was in response to earlier statements issued by proponents of Senate Bill (SB) 3123—amending the Anti-Money Laundering Act (AMLA)—who are concerned about the possible negative impact of an FATF blacklist on the country.

Specifically, Rep. Sherwin Tugna of Citizen’s Battle Against Corruption party-list warned the Senate that its inaction on the measure was putting the country at risk.

Sen. Teofisto “TG” Guingona 3rd, one of the bill’s proponents, earlier raised concerns of possible sanctions that may be imposed on the country once it is blacklisted, such as delays in foreign remittances and higher costs of financial transactions.

But Enrile is not convinced with the way that the FATF is treating other countries in forcing these to comply with their standards under the threat of sanctions.

“It’s no longer parity among nations if that is the case. It’s no longer reciprocity, they are only dictating on us,” Enrile said.

“Now the question is: do we want the dictation? And is it in accord with the sovereignty of the nation, even we, as a member of the convention, to be dictated upon by a task force created by only a few of the members of that convention?” he asked, referring to the Asia/Pacific Group on Money Laundering.

Enrile said that the Senate will tackle the bill when Congress resumes session on November 5. He added that there are some senators who are against the bill’s passage and want to clear several provisions in the measure.

Expanded list
The proposed legislation seeks to expand the list of unlawful activities and predicate crimes from 14 to 29, which includes terrorism and conspiracy to commit terrorism, bribery, fraud, malversation of public funds and property, forgery and counterfeiting, and tax evasion.

If passed, the Anti-Money Laundering Council (AMLC) will be allowed to monitor casinos including those that operate online gaming, foreign exchange transactions, money changers, remittance cen-ters and similar establishments, pre-need companies, real-estate agents and dealers in precious stones and metals.

The authors of the bill want these institutions to report to the AMLC all transactions worth P500,000 and above.

Guingona has said that the non-passage of the bill will send a strong message to the international community that the Philippines’ commitment to stem the flow of “criminal” money is not supported by strong policies and laws that can be used in going after people who steal from the government.

FATF was expected to come out with its evaluation after its meeting in Paris yesterday.

Enrile said that as members of the convention, the Philippines will have to comply, but FATF must not pressure the country to approve the bill on a given period of time under the threat of sanctions.

“Otherwise, we are no longer a sovereign country. We’re now under the control of a task force over whom we have no say on their selection,” he added.

Dark stain
In a statement, Tugna warned the Senate against putting the country at risk, saying that the “[risk of being blacklisted] is a dark stain on the Philippines’ good performance record, a dark stain that could have been prevented in the first place. Being in a blacklist is never good.”

“This [SB 3123] is an important amendment to the AMLA. Even without the possibility of being put in a blacklist, it is important that our government has the capability to track money or properties that come from illegal activities,” he added.

With a report from Llanesca T. Panti