AMLC chief steps down today

MANILA, Philippines -  The executive director of the Anti-Money Laundering Council (AMLC) is giving up her post today.

Julia Baccay-Abad yesterday informed the House of Representatives committee on banks and financial institutions chaired by Eastern Samar Rep. Ben Evardone of her decision to return to her “mother agency,” the Bangko Sentral ng Pilipinas (BSP).

She told reporters that President Duterte’s criticism of the AMLC has demoralized its 96-member secretariat.

“Of course, we are saddened by these things. It’s quite unfortunate that some people have a misimpression of what the AMLC has been doing,” she said.

Her decision, she pointed out, was “for the greater good of the agency.”

“After considering all things, I believe that this decision will better serve the agency,” she said.

Deputy director Mel Racela, head of the BSP’s anti-money laundering special group, will take over as officer-in-charge of the AMLC.

The AMLC is composed of the BSP governor, insurance commissioner and chairman of the Securities and Exchange Commission.

Abad said the council appoints its executive director upon recommendation of the BSP governor.

Duterte has repeatedly criticized the council for supposedly refusing to cooperate with Justice Secretary Vitaliano Aguirre II in examining the bank accounts of suspected drug lords.

Defending the AMLC, some lawmakers, who did not want to be named, said Aguirre should know that the council could not just open and examine bank accounts, even if these belong to suspected criminals.

“They have to file a case accusing the owner of an account of a predicate crime, or one of the offenses enumerated in the law. If the complaint is meritorious, the Court of Appeals issues the order to freeze and examine the account. The order is usually good for six months,” one of the lawmakers said.

Pampanga Rep. Gloria Macapagal-Arroyo has proposed that the BSP governor be disallowed from supervising the AMLC.

The former president, an ally of President Duterte, accused unnamed AMLC officers of being loyal to former president Benigno Aquino III, claiming this was the reason why they were not cooperating with the current administration.

Former Makati congressman Teodoro Locsin Jr., one of the authors of the Anti-Money Laundering Act (AMLA), described Arroyo’s proposal as an “irresponsible” idea.

Among the AMLC members, he said the BSP governor is the most logical official to supervise the council.

Abad attended the hearing of the Evadone committee on bills that seek to include casinos in the AMLA.

Evardone said his panel would most likely combine the bills and endorse a consolidated measure.

He said his committee would decide what threshold amount it would set for reporting requirements on the part of casinos.

The law sets the threshold amount at P500,000 in the case of banks, insurance companies and other firms covered by AMLA. – With Lawrence Agcaoili