(File photo)
MANILA – Philippine National Police (PNP) chief, Gen. Guillermo Eleazar, on Monday assured it is working together with concerned government agencies in stopping terrorist financing to have the country removed from the "gray list" of the Financial Action Task Force (FATF).
This came after the Paris-based task force has included the Philippines in its “gray list” following the conclusion of a hybrid meeting from October 19 to 21, stressing that the country needs to develop strategies to effectively address terrorist financing and money laundering.
Eleazar said the PNP, for its part, has entered a number of agreements with the AMLC for the effective enforcement of Republic Act 10168 or the Terrorism Financing Prevention and Suppression Act of 2012.
“Terrorism financing is a scourge on our country and the Filipino people. We need to always be on alert and come up with measures to stop the flow of money to these terrorist groups who would use these funds to carry out possible attacks,” Eleazar said in a statement.
Eleazar pointed out that in February this year, the PNP and AMLC signed a memorandum of agreement to solidify coordination and boost efforts in enforcing provisions of Republic Act 10168.
“This is in addition to the past individual memorandums of agreement entered into by AMLC with various PNP offices and units such as DIDM, CIDG, and IG, to beef up the campaign against terrorist financing,” Eleazar said.
The MOA between the PNP and AMLC provides for the establishment of a center at Camp Crame which will serve as an information-sharing hub between the two agencies.
“The center enables us to efficiently exchange information and intelligence, maximize resources, streamline operations, and improve capabilities to fight money laundering, terrorist financing, and other crimes,” he explained.
Eleazar expressed confidence that inter-agency programs and efforts against terrorist financing and money laundering would soon bear fruit.
“With these efforts and activities with AMLC, the PNP anticipates that we will be able to reach our target to exit the said gray list by January 2023.” (PNA)
