The Trade Union Congress of the Philippines (TUCP) is fully behind President Ferdinand ‘Bongbong’ R. Marcos, Jr.’s directive to the Anti-Money Laundering Council (AMLC) and all relevant government agencies to ensure the delisting of the Philippines from the global money laundering ‘grey list’ this year. “We laud the President’s marching orders to fast-track the whole-of-government response for the full implementation of our national action plan, spearheaded by Executive Order No. 33 adopting the National Anti-Money Laundering and Counter-Terrorism Financing Strategy, to address all our deficiencies in combating money laundering. This is key to upgrading the credit rating of the Philippines and safeguarding the overseas financial transactions and remittances from higher cost, stricter regulations, and higher risk of disapprovals,” underscored TUCP President and House of Representatives Deputy Speaker Raymond Democrito C. Mendoza who served as chair of the House Committee on Overseas Workers Affairs (HCOWA) and steered the passage of the Department of Migrant Workers (DMW) Act during the 18th Congress.
The international organization Financial Action Task Force (FATF) provides international standards on how governments should tackle money laundering and terrorist financing. When countries fail to adhere to these FATF Standards, they are placed either in the ‘grey list’ for jurisdictions under increased monitoring or in the ‘black list’ for high-risk jurisdictions. Out of the 18 recommended action plan items by the FATF for the Philippines to exit the grey list in 2021, there remain 8 action items that need to be addressed.
“Expediting the implementation of our national anti-money laundering strategy to address all lingering concerns and issues is only right and just to our OFWs and their families, especially since deployment rose to 2.3 million and remittances hit record-high 40 billion dollars in 2023. As we face many global and domestic headwinds, we cannot expose this bright spot of our economy to further danger,” emphasized Deputy Speaker Mendoza.
The TUCP stands ready to partner with the Marcos Administration as well as the Department of Migrant Workers (DMW), which we established as the sanctuary of our millions of OFWs, to uphold the fundamental rights and promote the protection that our modern-day heroes duly deserve for their unmatched sacrifice for a good life of their families and for their heroic contribution to our economic recovery and development—para sa ating mga Bagong Bayani ng Bagong Pilipinas!
