President Marcos has set October 2024 as his administration’s target deadline to exit the gray list of the Financial Action Task Force (FATF), which leads global action in tackling money laundering, terrorist, and proliferation financing and categorizes countries according to their measures to address these issues.

President Ferdinand 'Bongbong' Marcos Jr. during a sectoral meeting in Malacañang on Tuesday, Jan. 2, 2024. (Yummie Dingding/PPA Pool)

In a Facebook post on Tuesday, Jan. 2, the Chief Executive affirmed his administration’s commitment to end the Philippines’ inclusion in the FATF’s gray list by Oct. this year.

“We've directed the AMLC (Anti-Money Laundering Council Secretariat) to accelerate action plans to combat money laundering and counter-terrorist financing, and to file cases against violators,” he wrote.

He also assured overseas Filipino workers (OFWs) of the government’s commitment to safeguarding their transactions through safety nets, reduced costs, and eased regulatory burdens.

This came after AMLC Secretariat Executive Director Matthew David revealed the impact of the Philippines’ risk of being blacklisted by the FATF on OFW remittances.

In a Palace press briefing after a sectoral meeting also on Tuesday, the AMLC official disclosed that the Philippines failed to meet the January 2023 deadline earlier given by FATF to exit from its gray list.

“However, since we already did not meet the deadline of January 2023, we are still in the gray list. And our aim, the aim of the government is to exit the gray list this January 2024,” David, a lawyer, explained.

“That was a self-imposed deadline, but we are still hopeful that we will exit the gray list this year, 2024,” the official furthered, adding that the FATF does not give a time frame on exiting the gray list or entering the black list.

David admitted that the Philippines’ status in the FATF’s gray area list affects its investment reputation and credit rating.

“As you very well know, the World Bank and even the IMF (International Monetary Fund) is looking into also the status of the Philippines regarding the gray list,” he said.

“Also, it might affect foreign direct investment in the Philippines because if you don’t exit the gray list, they may think our AML/CTF (Anti-Money Laundering, Counter-Terrorism Financing) system is not adequate enough or sufficient enough or strong enough, as regard to money laundering and terrorism financing,” he added.

The FATF’s black and gray lists identify jurisdictions with weak measures to combat money laundering and terrorism financing. According to the FATF’s website, the task force already reviewed 129 countries and jurisdictions, publicly identifying 102 of them.

Of that number, 76 have made the necessary reforms to address the weaknesses in their system.

The Philippines remains under the gray list, which means it is actively working with FATF to address strategic deficiencies in their systems. Countries under the gray list are in increased monitoring, reflecting its commitment to swiftly resolve its identified strategic deficiencies.

Some countries with the Philippines in the gray list are Vietnam, United Arab Emirates, Syria, Turkiye, Yemen, and Croatia, among others.

David assured that “all government agencies in charge with addressing all strategic deficiencies are doing everything they can to complete the action items and for us, the Philippines, to eventually exit the gray list.”