Press Release
October 27, 2020

POE TO LEAD HEARING ON AMLA AMENDMENTS OCT. 28

A joint panel led by Sen. Grace Poe will gather top officials to discuss amendments to the Anti-Money Laundering Act (AMLA) to bolster government's efforts in combating the concealment and flow of illegal money in the country (Isang joint panel na pangungunahan ni Sen. Grace Poe ang magtitipon sa matataas na opisyal sa pagtalakay ng panukalang amendahan ang Anti-Money Laundering Act (AMLA) upang palakasin ang pagkilos ng pamahalaan sa pagsugpo ng pagtatago at pagdaloy ng ilegal na salapi sa bansa).

Poe's committee on banks, financial institutions and currencies, joint with the justice and human rights panel, will hold a virtual public hearing on Wednesday, Oct. 28 at 10:30 a.m (Nakatakdang magsagawa ng virtual public hearing ang Senate committee on banks, financial institutions and currencies, kasama ang justice and human rights, sa Miyerkules, Oktubre 28, dakong 10:30 ng umaga).

"We expect to have an all-hands-on-deck involvement of top officials of concerned agencies in tackling this vital anti-corruption and economic stability measure (Inaasahan natin na magtutulungan ang matataas na opisyal ng mga kinauukulang ahensiya sa pagtalakay sa mahalagang anti-corruption at economic stability measure na ito)," Poe said.

Officials from the Anti-Money Laundering Council, Department of Finance, Bangko Sentral ng Pilipinas, Bureau of Internal Revenue, Department of Justice, Department of National Defense, Department of Foreign Affairs, Philippine Amusement and Gaming Corp., and Professional Regulation Commission are expected to attend the hearing (Nakatakdang dumalo sa pagdinig ang mga opisyal mula sa Anti-Money Laundering Council, Department of Finance, Bangko Sentral ng Pilipinas, Bureau of Internal Revenue, Department of Justice, Department of National Defense, Department of Foreign Affairs, Philippine Amusement and Gaming Corp., at Professional Regulation Commission).

The joint panel will discuss Senate Bills 1412 and 1545 that seek to amend Republic Act No. 9160 or the AMLA (Tatalakayin ng panel ang Senate Bill No. 1412 at 1545 na may layuning amendahan ang Republic Act No. 9160 o ang AMLA).

The President has certified the AMLA amendment measure as urgent (Sinertipikahan ng Pangulo ang pag-amenda sa AMLA bilang urgent).

"The sooner we are able to plug the gaps in the current law, the better it is for our financial system, so it will be insulated from the movement of dirty money (Mas maagang matakpan ang mga butas sa kasalukuyang batas, mas mabuti para sa ating sistemang pinansiyal, sa pagsugpo sa maruming salapi)," Poe said.

The Anti-Money Laundering Council previously stated that the Philippines is in danger of being "grey-listed" by the Financial Action Task Force if the country fails to pass the necessary amendments to the AMLA by February 2021 (Naunang inihayag ng Anti-Money Laundering Council na nanganganib maibilang ang Pilipinas sa "grey list" ng Financial Action Task Force kung mabibigo ang bansa na maisabatas ang kinakailangang amenda sa AMLA bago sumapit ang Pebrero 2021).

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