Arroyo case 'a dirty-money test'
Senior congressman Jose Moreno said yesterday an international financial watchdog could judge the Philippines' implementation of a law against money laundering by the way it handles a graft case against the president's husband.
The Paris-based Financial Action Task Force has put the Philippines and Indonesia on a blacklist because neither country has complied with measures to prevent money laundering.
'For us to be removed from the blacklist, we have to show we have effective implementation,'' Mr Moreno said. Referring to the case against President Gloria Macapagal-Arroyo's husband, Jose Miguel Arroyo, he said: 'This is one of the many day-to-day events that will test our effective implementation [of the law].'
Manila revised its law in March, thus avoiding sanctions. But before it can be removed from the blacklist, it has to demonstrate that the law works.
Mr Arroyo has been accused by an opposition senator of laundering at least 133.3 million pesos (HK$18.8 million) through four dummy bank accounts, including one where he allegedly signed cheques in the name of 'Jose Pidal''.
Senator Panfilo Lacson, Mr Arroyo's main accuser, has challenged the Philippines' Anti-Money Laundering Council to use Mr Arroyo's case as a test case. The council is chaired by the Central Bank governor.
Mr Arroyo has denied Senator Lacson's accusations, but an affidavit by Mr Arroyo's former messenger boy, Eugenio Mahusay, accuses the president's husband of plunder and money laundering. Mr Moreno, who is the chairman of the House economic affairs committee, said Mr Mahusay's affidavit provided enough leads and damaging accusations for the council to react.
Mr Mahusay said he handled transactions worth more than 1 billion pesos - making it a crime of plunder, which the law covers.
