Government reforms initiated by the Marcos administration helped the Philippines to be taken off the global money laundering and terrorist financing watchdog Financial Action Task Force (FATF)’s gray list, Malacañang Palace said Saturday.

The Philippines was removed from the gray list on 21 February 2025.

In a statement, Palace Press Officer Undersecretary Claire Castro said Executive Order (EO) 33, issued by President Ferdinand Marcos Jr. helped the Philippines make improvements in money laundering occurrence and terrorist financing.

EO 33 called for the adoption of the National Anti-Money Laundering, Counter-Terrorism Financing, and Counter-Proliferation Financing Strategy for 2023–2027.

It also reorganized the National Anti-Money Laundering and Counter-Terrorism Financing Coordinating Committee.

Deficiencies

“We were placed on the gray list in 2021 after the international watchdog identified 18 deficiencies that the government must address to combat money laundering and terrorism financing in the country,” she said.

Castro noted that all these occurred during the administration of former President Rodrigo Duterte.

The Philippines was on FATF’s gray list for three years, or since 2021. The FATF is an independent organization composed of 39 members that set international standards in combating money laundering and terrorism propaganda.

Three reasons

According to Castro, the Philippines was put on the gray list for three reasons: first, due to the lack of regulatory supervision over gambling operations, which enabled the proliferation of Philippine Offshore Gaming Operations (POGO); second, financial sanctions which reportedly had anomalies in transactions, especially during the pandemic; and third, delays in the implementation of the Anti-Terrorism Act of 2020 despite the existence of intelligence and confidential funds.

With the Philippines finally out of these risks, the government said the country will now be able to boost its campaign for Foreign Direct Investments and be able to attract investors as well as help overseas Filipino workers make faster cross-border transactions.

Prevention

Meanwhile, Castro stressed that the President will continue to organize and prevent activities related to money laundering and terrorist financing.

“We, especially the President, will be able to clean up the mess left behind by the previous administration,” she said.

“Let us pray that we will not be included in the FATF gray list or black list again,” she added.