US official: ‘We continue to monitor terrorist financing related to Manila’
MANILA, Philippines — The United States (US) government said Tuesday that it continues “to watch very closely” whether terrorist financing through remittances made by overseas Filipino workers (OFWs) are sent to the Philippines.
This, as US Treasury Undersecretary for Terrorism and Financial Intelligence Sigal Mandelker ascertained that US continues “to monitor terrorist financing related to Manila.”
In a telephonic press conference, Mandelker was asked if they have monitored terrorist financing into the Philippines through OFW remittances.
“What I can say about that is of course we continue to monitor terrorist financing related to Manila… we’ve had some actions connected to that,” Mandelker said.
However, she said she “can’t comment specifically” if there have been monitored terrorist financing through OFW remittances but assured it is “an area that we continue to watch very closely.”
Mandelker is in the last day of a series of trips in South East and South Asian countries, which she said is “part of the US government’s ongoing engagement with strategic partners in the region.”
“At every stop we have discussed our efforts to counter illicit financing threats that can compromise the integrity of the global system during visits, first in Malaysia, then Singapore, and now in India,” she said.
“We have engaged with foreign counterparts, including from the ministries of foreign affairs, finance, central banks, and financial regulators,” she added.
PH fight vs financing of terrorism
Over the weekend, the Department of Foreign Affairs (DFA) announced the country’s co-sponsorship of a United Nations (UN) Security Council resolution on efforts to fight financing of terrorism.
DFA Secretary Teodoro Locsin Jr., in a speech at the UN Headquarters in New York last March 28, stressed that “money is the lifeblood of terrorism” and underscored the Philippines’ initiatives to combat the illicit financing of terrorism.
The DFA chief also said the Philippines faces the challenge of balancing its counter-terrorism efforts and the need of OFWs, noting that remittance agencies have reportedly been used as a channel for terrorist financing. /kga
