Legarda urges critics: Give money launder law a chance

Senate Majority Leader Loren Legarda appealed to critics of the anti-money laundering law to give the measure a chance to work, saying only real test cases would allow it to prove its worth.

"The law is already in place. There is no need to push for changes this early. What government needs to do is quickly put the law through several test cases," Legarda said.

She said the Senate is not inclined to seriously consider any measure seeking amendments to the law, unless it has been certified by Malacañang.

The measure was enacted last September, beating a deadline set by international watchdog Financial Action Task Force (FATF). However, misgivings have been expressed about the law because of its high threshold of P4 million for bank transactions subject to reporting to the Bangko Sentral ng Pilipinas (BSP).

Several lawmakers in the House of Representatives have already expressed willingness to reduce the minimum amount covered by the law, which is about eight times the $10,000 minimum set in the anti-money laundering law of the US.

Legarda said what bears watching is the government’s actions on boiler room operator Price Richardson Corp. – the first test case since the enactment of the law.

The Anti-Money Laundering Council, chaired by BSP Gov. Rafael Buenaventura, had issued a freeze order on the bank accounts of Price Richardson and two officers allegedly involved in illegal securities trading. Stashed in five banks, the frozen accounts have a total value of over P15 million.

The Paris-based FATF has also criticized the anti-money laundering law for failing to lift a strict provision of the bank secrecy law that requires a court order before a suspected "dirty" account can be examined by authorities.

The Philippines has been trying to get off an FATF blacklist of countries perceived as money havens for criminal syndicates and terrorist organizations. – Aurea Calica