By Mario Casayuran
Senator Richard J. Gordon on Friday urged the Anti-Money Laundering Council (AMLC) to look into the reported influx of an estimated $180 million (P9.2 billion) into the country through gambling casinos and other financial outlets.
Senator Richard Gordon
(ALI VICOY / MANILA BULLETIN)
Gordon, chairman of the Senate Blue Ribbon Committee, made the call as he stated that a Senate investigation on the influx of Chinese nationals in the Philippines might be scheduled next week.
“We’re still preparing for the hearing. Mga (by) next week, I’m going to call a hearing just to start it para (so that) I may quorum. I just said, I’m going to look into it, but I’m not making any judgment,” Gordon said.
Gordon also expressed concern over the “inordinate amount of money” being brought into the country by Chinese nationals.
He estimated that there were about $180 million in cash that was transported from China from December 2019 to February this year.
“That’s too much,” he said.
Gordon theorized that the dollars were routed through Hong Kong because it has no currency control.
He strongly suggested that the AMLC) should check the cash flow from China.
“They (Anti-Money Laundering Council) declared it so, dapat lang, i-check nila (so it check it),” he said.
“It could go to the banking system, it could go to the casino, and how much thousands are being paid by the casinos kung ganyan kalaki ang volume?” Gordon added. (Why is the volume that big?)
Based on the records of the Bureau of Customs (BOC), the Chinese who brought huge amount of money claimed that they would use it for travel and casino, while others maintained that they would use if for investments.
“This is very alarming. So many foreigners are coming into the country with this huge amount of money. Definitely, this is money laundering. It’s tragic that we have an anti-money laundering law, but our country is used by other people,” Gordon said.