AMLC: Big mission, ‘crumbs’ for budget T
HE Anti-Money Laundering Council (AMLC) is faced with a “happy problem,” one that requires them to rethink their budget with the express goal of increasing it to capacitate the Council and fully exercise its mandate. In a Finance Committee hearing at the Philippine Senate on Monday, Chairman Sherwin Gatchalian said the Committee is keen on helping AMLC prevent financial crimes. This means the Committee is open to granting the full budget sought by AMLC for 2026. The AMLC and at least three other agencies have important mandates and huge challenges in fighting money laundering and
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corruption, but have been given a “crumb-sized budget,” Senate President Pro Tempore Panfilo “Ping” M. Lacson said, and he vowed to redress this. At the hearing of the Committee on Finance tackling the proposed budgets of the four agencies, Lacson sought the capacity building particularly of the AMLC, even as he lamented they getting “crumbs” in the National Expenditures Program (NEP) for 2026. “The agencies in front of us, they are recipients of ‘crumbs’ in the budget, at least in the NEP,” he said in a mix of English and Filipino at the hearing that also tackled the proposed 2026 budgets of the Anti-Red Tape Authority
(Arta), Governance Commission for Government-Owned and Controlled Corporations (GCG) and Philippine Competition Commission (PCC). In his presentation, AMLC Executive Director Matthew M. David said the Council proposed a budget of P333.1 million but the Department of Budget and Management (DBM), under the National Expenditure Program (NEP) only granted the Council a budget of P170.161 million for next year. “The budget that we are requesting, Mr. Chair, will help us on the part of the AMLC to perform our mandates, particularly analysis, gathering and collecting of the millions of transaction reports
that we are receiving,” David said at the hearing. Based on the latest data, AMLC is monitoring around P24.597 million worth of Suspicious Transactions (STRs) and P42.277 million worth of Covered Transactions (CTRs). Based on the Anti-Money Laundering Act (AMLA), STRs are those transactions that have no legal basis or purpose; the client is not identified; amount is not commensurate or deviates from the financial capacity of a client; and related to unlawful activities, among others. The CTR, meanwhile, are transactions that are equivalent to See “AMLC,” A11
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REMITTANCE FLOWS STEADY, BUT TRADE WAR JITTERS A RISK R www.businessmirror.com.ph
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Tuesday, September 16, 2025 Vol. 20 No. 338
P25.00 nationwide | 2 sections 22 pages | 7 DAYS A WEEK
By Cai U. Ordinario @caiordinario
EMITTANCES from Filipinos abroad are expected to continue in the coming months, but analysts warned that uncertainties caused by the trade war continue to pose a threat to the livelihood of Overseas Filipino Workers (OFWs).
On Monday, the Bangko Sentral ng Pilipinas (BSP) said remittances rose 3 percent to $3.18 billion in July 2025 from $3.08 billion in July 2024. This is the highest level of remittances in seven months. In January-July 2025, BSP data showed the cumulative cash remittances grew 3.1 percent to $19.93 billion from $19.33 billion in January-July 2024. Analysts expect this to continue in the coming months. “Remittances are expected to remain resilient in the coming months, driven by seasonal demand [e.g., ‘-ber’ See “Remittance,” A2
BIR, AMLC TEAM UP TO PROBE FCP CONTRACTORS’ RECORDS By Reine Juvierre S. Alberto
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@reine_alberto
HE Bureau of Internal Revenue (BIR) has joined forces with the Anti-Money Laundering Council (AMLC) to scrutinize bank records and tax payments of contractors and individuals allegedly involved in anomalous flood control projects (FCP). In a statement on Monday, the BIR said the two agencies discussed how tax evasion and money-laundering charges may be filed against companies and individuals linked to the government’s flood control projects. Internal Revenue Commissioner Romeo D. Lumagui Jr. and AMLC Executive Director Matthew David, together with
BIR auditors and investigators from the AMLC, convened on September 12. “This joint BIR-AMLC investigation will ensure that all revenue streams and assets of those involved will be accounted for. No stone will be left unturned,” Lumagui was quoted in the statement as saying. The AMLC has the authority to require companies and individuals suspected of being engaged in money laundering to submit bank reports and transactions, which can be analyzed with tax returns and payments in conducting tax fraud audits. “If the wealth of the contractor or individual, as stated in bank records, does not have corresponding tax payments, then See “BIR,” A2
CURRENT SCANDAL The flood control project along the Maycapiz-Taliptip River in Barangay Perez, Bulakan, Bulacan, is seen on Monday, September 15, 2025. Although declared “completed” in April, investigations found the P193-million structure to be a “ghost project” that was never finished and would not have served any community even if it had been built. The project was cited during a Senate Blue Ribbon Committee hearing on anomalous infrastructure deals. President Ferdinand Marcos Jr., who raised the issue of massive corruption in flood control in his fourth State of the Nation Address after destructive typhoons and floods in July, has named retired Associate Justice Andres Reyes Jr. to lead an independent commission tasked with investigating ghost projects and holding accountable top contractors—including firms linked to the Discaya family and Wawao Builders. NONOY LACZA
Arta eyes elevation to department level By Andrea E. San Juan
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@andreasanjuan
HE Anti-Red Tape Authority (Arta) said it is set to submit a proposal to lawmakers as the agency aims to be elevated to department level, a move seen to eliminate red tape, improve business processes and entice more investors into the Philippines. On Monday, Arta Secretary Ernesto V. Perez said he will be working with the office of Senator Erwin Tulfo to give more teeth to Arta in implementing the Ease of Doing Business mandate of the agency. “That’s part of our proposal [to become a department] and we thank Senator Tulfo for the support. This will give us more en-
forcement powers, more budget and personnel,” Perez told the BusinessMirror in a Viber message on Monday. The Arta chief said: “We are ready to submit the proposal by Thursday this week.” Perez explained why being a department is crucial for Arta. This, he said, will enable the agency to “fully implement our reform initiatives to promote bureaucratic efficiency and attract more investors and businesses, thus, improving our economy.” This developed after the lawmaker underscored at a Senate hearing before the Committee on Finance on Monday that Arta needs to be granted more powers to implement its mandate
to eliminate red tape because national government agencies and even local government units (LGUs) seem to be playing down its role to improve the business climate in the country. “Mr. Chair, I really believe that we have to give more power to this agency because it seems the agencies, even LGUs, don’t take it seriously,” Tulfo said. He also ordered the chief of the country’s anti-red tape agency to submit a proposal to the lawmaker. “Because I was just talking to my lawyers and legal officers, they’re saying we are going to study if it’s possible to make you a department, so you are on the same level [as others]….Because now when you are just an authority they’re saying,
what is that Arta? How can you engage the other departments? Maybe you need to be a department as well, and I will support that,” Tulfo said, partly in Filipino. Arta is seeking a P32.5-million additional budget for 2026. Perez said this will help the agency implement the programs in store for next year. “We humbly request really for additional budget support in order to operationalize our regional offices. We only have eight regional offices at division level, meaning only 7 plantilla positions, so we need additional people, even contract of service, to man these regional field offices,” Perez said. See “Arta,” A2
PESO EXCHANGE RATES n US 57.1230 n JAPAN 0.3873 n UK 77.5330 n HK 7.3421 n CHINA 8.0177 n SINGAPORE 44.5334 n AUSTRALIA 37.9240 n EU 67.0224 n KOREA 0.0410 n SAUDI ARABIA 15.2275 Source: BSP (September 15, 2025)