MANILA: The Philippines hopes to avoid being put on a blacklist of money-laundering havens after President Benigno Aquino signed a new law boosting safeguards against such crimes, his spokeswoman said yesterday.
The law brings the country up to international standards as required by the inter-governmental Financial Action Task Force, which threatened to blacklist it, spokeswoman Abigail Valte said.
“We’re very hopeful that, with the passage of this particular law, the FATF will see we are really serious in our commitment to fight money-laundering,” she told reporters.
Officials of the Philippine anti-money laundering council will leave soon for an FATF meeting in Paris to show that Manila was complying with their conditions, she said.
The law is aimed at preventing terrorists, corrupt officials, drug syndicates and human-traffickers from using the country as a hiding place for their ill-gotten gains, Valte said.
As demanded by the FATF, it broadens the definition of crimes covered and expands the businesses to be monitored for money laundering beyond mere financial institutions such as banks.
The FATF had previously placed the Philippines on its “dark grey list” of jurisdictions deemed not to be making sufficient progress in fighting money laundering and threatened to blacklist it in early 2012.
It called for greater state powers to make it easier to scrutinize bank accounts, as well as casinos, foreign exchange traders and other non-bank entities. While the Philippines previously passed two crucial anti-money laundering laws in June, it only passed the third law sought by the task force this month.
The new law, signed by Aquino late Friday, also still spares casinos from coverage for fear this would scare off investors, lawmakers said.
Quake shakes Mindanao
A powerful 6.2-magnitude earthquake rocked the southern Philippine island of Mindanao on Saturday triggering panic, but there were no immediate reports of any damage or casualties.
The quake struck at 12:37 p.m. (0437 GMT), off the coast, about 30 km northeast of the town of Sarangani, said the government seismology institute.
Residents said people rushed out of buildings in panic after the quake sent lighting fixtures swaying.
The government institute said it did not expect any damage or casualties and there was no risk of a tsunami.
The Philippines sits on the Pacific Ring of Fire — a belt around the Pacific Ocean dotted by active volcanoes and tectonic trenches.
A 7.6-magnitude quake hit the country’s east coast in August last year, triggering a tsunami alert that forced tens of thousands to flee their homes and causing a landslide that killed one person.