News Update Talk on RA 9160 Held in Iloilo

ILOILO CITY, Philippines (PNA) - The Bangko Sentral ng Pilipinas (BSP) Iloilo branch recently conducted a briefing on the anti-money laundering act attended by representatives from the banking sector, business, academe, government agencies and media. The briefing was aimed at raising public awareness of the Anti-money Laundering Act (AMLA) of 2001, otherwise known as Republic Act 9160. Atty. Rommel Trijo, legal officer of BSP in Manila, said that AMLA serves as protection of the public against unscrupulous persons. The AMLA criminalizes the act of money laundering as well as creates a financial intelligence unit which imposes requirements on customer identification, freezes, seize and recovery of ''dirty money.'' It also relaxes strict bank deposit secrecy laws in order to investigate money laundering cases thoroughly. Trijo said that money laundering is an unlawful activity which aims to make illegal transactions appear as originating from legitimate sources. Among of these unlawful activity includes graft and corrupt practices, plunder, jueteng and other illegal gambling activities, swindling, smuggling, kidnap for ransom and drug trafficking among others. Money transactions from these criminal acts are covered under the AMLA, said Trijo.