Metro Manila (CNN Philippines, December 2) — The House of Representatives has approved on final reading a measure that aims to further strengthen the Anti-Money Laundering Law in the country.
A total of 213 lawmakers voted in favor of House Bill 7904, which introduces new amendments to Republic Act 9160 or the Anti-Money Laundering Act of 2001. Seven voted against the measure while three abstained from voting.
The House bill, authored and sponsored by committee on banks and financial intermediaries chair Junie Cua, seeks to protect and preserve the integrity and confidentiality of bank accounts. This ensures that the country will not be used as a money laundering site “for the proceeds of any unlawful activity.”
Key provisions of the measure will now expand the scope of offenses, by including tax crimes and violations of the Strategic Trade Management Act. The act seeks to prevent the proliferation of weapons of mass destruction by managing trade in strategic goods as well as the financing of their movement.
Real estate developers and brokers will also now be covered by the measure.
The Anti-Money Laundering Council will now be authorized to implement targeted financial sanctions, including the ex-parte freezing of funds and assets belonging to individuals or entities listed under United Nations resolutions. The council may also preserve, manage and dispose assets suspected of involvement in money laundering.
The measure also prohibits courts from issuing temporary restraining orders or “writs of injunctions” that would stop the AMLC in exercising its authority to freeze and forfeit bank deposits and assets suspected of involvement in money laundering. The Court of Appeals and the Supreme Court are exempted from this provision.
Bayan Muna Rep. Carlos Zarate was among the lawmakers who voted against the measure. In a statement on Tuesday, he said that the measure “incentivizes the AMLC to pursue harassment and baseless cases to the end of acquiring material gains and benefits as a result of the litigation.”
“This amendment would result to the clogging of court dockets, which in the end will be to the prejudice of timely and orderly administration of justice,” he added.
Fellow Makabayan lawmaker and ACT-Teachers Partylist Rep. France Castro shared a similar sentiment and noted that the measure can be used as a tool against “enemies of the state” through freeze orders and judgments of forfeitures, which can lead to rights abuses.
