Philippines: Top Anti-Money-Laundering Official Says ICITAP Training on Terrorist Financing Leads to New Cases

On July 12, ICITAP launched “Today’s Integrated Financial Intelligence Unit,” which is funded through the Department of State’s Counterterrorism Bureau and included participants from the Philippine Department of Justice and Anti-Money Laundering Council (AMLC).  The course seeks to build the Philippine government’s capacity to counter terror financing, including by increasing information sharing between analysts, investigators, and prosecutors.  In his remarks at the course opening, the AMLC Executive Director thanked the United States for continued assistance and cooperation. The AMLC Executive Director lamented that the Philippines lacked convictions in terror financing cases, but he added the AMLC and Philippine government were determined to make progress, especially after the recent “grey listing” of the Philippines by the Financial Action Task Force.  In a side conversation with U.S. Embassy and ICITAP officials, the Senior Philippine Terrorism Prosecutor said that ICITAP’s previous course on countering terror financing had jump-started cooperation between AMLC’s investigators and DOJ prosecutors, and the government has now developed six terror financing cases.