Finance Secretary Carlos Dominguez III on Thursday voiced his support for Bangko Sentral ng Pilipinas Governor Amando Tetangco Jr., after President Rodrigo Duterte said BSP and the Anti-Money Laundering Council “failed miserably” in stopping money laundering in the country.
“The BSP [officials] have not been remiss in doing their job supportive of the Duterte administration’s anti-graft crusade, but the tedious legal process that has from the start been a stumbling block to the immediate prosecution of suspected money launderers underline the urgency for the Congress to pass new legislation relaxing the country’s Bank Secrecy Law, which has among the world’s most restrictive regulations,” Dominguez said.
President Duterte earlier rebuked monetary authorities for allegedly turning a blind eye on alleged money laundering. He even called BSP and the Anti-Money Laundering Council “garbage” for allegedly trying to protect those involved in money laundering.
Dominguez said BSP along with the Department of Justice and the National Bureau of Investigation agreed to take steps in support of President Duterte’s all-out drive to run after suspected money launderers.
“Tetangco, a respected member of the economic team, has been providing valuable help in the pursuit of criminals engaged in money laundering,” Dominguez said.
The timely submission of documents needed by the NBI for its investigation after the initial “wrinkle” in their working arrangement illustrates that the concerned institutions have been up to the task but regrettably have had to observe the normally tedious procedures as required by law, he said.
Dominguez said “this is one reason why the future success of the comprehensive tax reform program that the Department of Finance has proposed to Congress to pass as a way to partly raise enough funds for the government’s anti-poverty agenda is contingent on our legislators’ passage of a complementary law relaxing the country’s Bank Secrecy Law.”