
As the country continues to deliver the necessary reforms to counter money laundering, the Philippines may be removed from the gray list of the Paris-based Financial Action Task Force by 2025.
The Philippines has been on the FATF gray list of countries under increased monitoring since 2021, due to deficiencies in its anti-money laundering / combating the financing of terrorism (AML/CFT) controls.
“We are very confident that when the FATF gray list matter is taken up this October, it is very possible that the Philippines will already exit the gray list because of our performance in various areas, including intellectual property rights protection,” Department of Justice Undersecretary Jesse Hermogenes Andres recently said.
He said that of the 18 outcomes that were expected of the Philippines to be able to exit the gray list, 15 have already been completed. The FATF is expected to make a decision on the three remaining items by next month.
“I think we are very confident that we have delivered on the three remaining that include cross-border measures, the casino junkets, and terrorism financing cases that will be announced most probably at the end of October,” Andres said.
Bangko Sentral ng Pilipinas Governor and Anti-Money Laundering Council chairman Eli Remolona Jr. said earlier that the country may not be able to exit from the gray list in October and would likely be removed only in January next year.
Exiting the FATF gray list would not only make our government look good for being finally able to comply with the requirements that will make it difficult for criminals and terrorists to launder money, it would also greatly benefit Filipinos as it would ease the restrictions on the transfer of funds to and from the country.
Let us home that the government agencies concerned have done enough to get us out of the FATF gray list, so we can move on staying out of it, along with attending to other concerns that will benefit the Filipino people further.*