PHL risks return to FATF gray list on flood mess By Andrea E. San Juan
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HE delay in the actions taken by the Anti-Money Laundering Council (AMLC), particularly freezing the assets of contractors, businessmen and entities tied to flood control ghost projects, could put the Philippines back on the Financial Action Task Force’s (FATF) gray list, according to economists. Nearly a year after the Philippines officially exited FATF’s “grey list,” economists, alongside the Bangko Sentral ng Pilipinas (BSP), are fretting over the Philippines’s
risk of being put anew under the Paris-based global money-laundering watchdog’s grey list for increased monitoring. The list identifies countries with strategic deficiencies in their regimes for countering money laundering, terrorist financing and proliferation financing, but are actively working with the FATF to address their deficiencies.
‘No automatic relisting, but...’
LUIS F. DUMLAO, economics professor at the Ateneo De Manila University (ADMU), told the BusinessMirror: “It is not the flood control scandal that threatens the
Philippines’s status with the FATF but more of the timing of the actions taken by the AMLC. If the AMLC took action before the scandal broke, it would have appeared that it has proactively policed money laundering.” Dumlao underscored that since the AMLC took action after the scandal broke and after the public outcry, “it appears that it has taken actions only in reaction or even for the optics.” Meanwhile, ADMU economist Leonardo A. Lanzona Jr. told this newspaper: “Given the enormous amount of money involved, concerns could have been raised about
how these have slipped the attention of the government, including the BSP.” For his part, Jonathan Ravelas, Senior Adviser at Reyes, Tacandong & Co., explained to this newspaper that while the flood control mess by itself won’t put the country back on the FATF grey list, “It exposes weaknesses that FATF watches closely— especially when billions in assets and thousands of accounts are frozen as part of the probe.” For Philippine Institute for Development Studies (PIDS) Senior Research Fellow John Paolo R. Rivera, the anomalous flood control probe See “FATF,” A2
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Wednesday, February 4, 2026 Vol. 21 No. 115
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By Reine Juvierre S. Alberto
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HE national government’s outstanding debt rose to a new record high of P17.707 trillion as of end-2025, driven by increased borrowing and the impact of the peso’s depreciation on foreign debt. The latest data from the Bureau of the Treasury (BTr) showed the outstanding debt of the national government went up by 10.32 percent to P17.707 trillion as of end-2025 from P16.051 trillion in 2024. “The increase is due to the government’s strategic net issuance of debt instruments to fund development programs, as well as the valuation effects of peso depreciation against the US dollar and third currencies,” the Treasury said in a statement on Tuesday. The debt level has already surpassed the P17.359-trillion ceiling projected by economic managers for 2025. Most of the government’s debt was sourced domestically, accounting for 68.4 percent of the total debt portfolio, while the remaining 31.6 percent came from foreign financiers. Domestic debt climbed by 10.85 percent to P12.116 trillion as of end-2025 from P10.930 trillion a year ago. The Treasury said this was due to regular government securities auctions See “Peso,” A2
STUDENTS OPEN BAGUIO FESTIVAL Hundreds of elementary and high school students filled Session Road with rhythmic beats and Cordillera-inspired choreography on Sunday, marking the official opening of the 30th annual Baguio Flower Festival. The event drew both local and foreign tourists eager to witness the festivities and explore other attractions across the province of Benguet. NONIE REYES
PHL BANANA REBOUND SPURS WIDER HVC EXPORT PORTFOLIO
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HE Philippines likely reclaiming its ranking as the world’s secondlargest banana exporter in 2025 has pushed the Department of Agriculture (DA) to widen its export portfolio for highvalue crops (HVC). The DA made this pronouncement after the Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations (FAO) said the country’s banana shipments may have jumped by 26 percent to 2.9 million metric tons (MMT) last year, from 2.33 MMT recorded in 2024. (See: https://businessmirror.com. ph/2026/02/02/phl-likely-regained-
banana-export-ranking/) These figures would enable the Philippines to return to its previous export ranking which it held for six years until 2022, before it slipped to third place in the succeeding years after being dislodged by Guatemala. For Agriculture Secretary Francisco Tiu Laurel Jr. the FAO’s report “confirmed” that targeted government intervention could deliver gains. “Many thought the banana industry was in decline. This is proof of concept that See “Banana,” A2
Farm trade gap narrows 26.9% to $668.35M
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HE country’s farm trade balance narrowed to $668.35 million in December, after exports rebounded on an annual basis, according to the Philippine Statistics Authority (PSA). Data from the PSA indicated that the country’s agricultural trade deficit shrank by 26.9 percent to $668.35 million in the reference month, from $913.97 million in the same period of 2024. Imports still accounted for the bulk of the country’s farm trade, despite sliding by 6.2 percent to $1.55 billion in December from $1.66 billion in the previous year. While agricultural goods pur-
chased abroad continued to outpace outbound shipments in December, PSA data showed that exports jumped by 19.3 percent to $884.77 million from $741.92 million. Overall, the country’s total agricultural trade rose by 1.7 percent to $2.44 billion, a slump from the 13.1-percent and 6.4 percent-increment posted in December 2024 and November 2025, respectively. Edible fruit and nuts were the country’s top farm export, earning $329.72 million or 37.3 percent of total farm export receipts. This was followed by animal,
vegetable, or microbial fats and oils; preparations of vegetables, fruit, nuts, or other parts of plants; and tobacco and manufactured tobacco substitutes. Meanwhile, Malaysia remained the Philippines’s top buyer of farm goods within the Asean region in December, purchasing $58.09 million worth of exports, or nearly 60 percent of total agricultural shipments to Asean member countries. The Netherlands also maintained its position as the country’s major trading partner in the European Union (EU), making up $154.41 million or 70.1 percent
of shipments to the bloc. In terms of imports, cereals were the country’s top farm inbound shipments in the reference month worth $234.18 million, or 15.1 percent of total agricultural shipments. The top 10 import groups reached a combined $1.3 billion, down by 7.6 percent from the same month of 2024. Among its Asean partners, Indonesia also remained the country’s leading source of agricultural goods, supplying $146.61 million or 30 percent of the Philippines’s total shipments from the region. Ada Pelonia
PESO EXCHANGE RATES n US 58.8870 n JAPAN 0.3785 n UK 80.4868 n HK 7.5397 n CHINA 8.4798 n SINGAPORE 46.3021 n AUSTRALIA 40.9088 n EU 69.4454 n KOREA 0.0405 n SAUDI ARABIA 15.7028 Source: BSP (February 3, 2026)