Replacing BSP head misses AMLC objective–De Lima
Replacing Bangko Sentral ng Pilipinas (BSP) Governor Amando Tetangco Jr. with another official who is not associated with the banking industry’s regulations misses the objective of the Anti-Money Laundering Council (AMLC), according to Sen. Leila de Lima.
De Lima in a statement on Tuesday said the AMLC’s purpose was to protect the banking industry from being used for money-laundering activities, and this was the reason why the BSP chair was also the ex-officio head of the council.
The senator also said the AMLC, especially during the administration of President Benigno Aquino III, had proven to be “professional and apolitical.”
“At any rate, the charges of political persecution and partiality in favor of some politicians as grounds for the proposed changes are not even proven facts, but merely the opinion of Congresswoman Arroyo,” she said. “It doesnt mean they are true.”
Former president and now Pampanga Rep. Gloria Macapagal-Arroyo earlier said she filed House Bill No. 731 to amend the New Central Bank Act to “liberate” the BSP from the “rigorous demands” of supervising the AMLC in its criminal investigation.
Arroyo also said “career technocrats” like Tetangco did not have the “temperament and training” to supervise AMLC’s investigations.
READ: AMLC a ‘tool’ for ‘selective justice,’ says Arroyo
De Lima said the ALMC was being pressured by President Rodrigo Duterte and his favored patrons.
“It is actually now that it is being pressured by Duterte and his favored patrons like Congresswoman Arroyo to relinquish its apolitical nature and let itself be used as their tool for the persecution of their perceived enemies, including myself,” she said.
“This can be considered part of the administration’s attempt to coopt the AMLC into being used as just another agency for political persecution, like the House [of Representatives], the DOJ (Department of Justice), the NBI (National Bureau of Investigation), and other agencies that were already transformed into vendetta institutions by Duterte with his allies like Arroyo,” she added.
