https://www.manilatimes.net/2025/08/20/business/top-business/philippines-at-risk-of-returning-to-dirty-money-watch-list-due-to-online-gambling/2170409

THE Philippines risks being returned to a global dirty money watch list due to unregulated online gambling activities, an analyst warned.

“That’s a real possibility,” Reyes Tacandong & Co. senior adviser Jonathan Ravelas told The Manila Times on Tuesday.

“We just got off the gray list early this year, which was a big win,” he noted, referring to the Paris-based Financial Action Task Force’s (FATF) register of economies with deficient anti-money laundering and counter-terrorism financing systems.

“If online gambling — especially unregulated or underground platforms — continues to slip through the cracks, we risk reversing that progress,” Ravelas said.

“The FATF is very clear: weak anti-money laundering controls are a red flag.”

Concerns have been growing over the role of online gambling operators — both legal and illegal — in possible money laundering and fraud, especially given a boom in the business.

Finance Secretary Ralph Recto has said that illegal operations still dominate with around 60 percent of the local market, representing a significant loss in revenues, even as the share of licensed operators has increased to about 40 percent from 5 percent.

“We need to act fast,” Ravelas said. “Strengthen oversight, enforce tighter rules, and make sure Pagcor (Philippine Amusement and Gaming Corp.) and AMLC (Anti-Money Laundering Council) are working hand in hand.

Amid calls to ban online gambling, he clarified that gambling itself was not the core issue but the lack of strong regulation.

“Online gambling isn’t the enemy — poor regulation is. Let’s clean it up before it stains our reputation again,” Ravelas said.

The Philippines was removed from the FATF gray list in February this year after nearly four years of increased monitoring, following reforms in risk-based supervision, law enforcement, and the prosecution of money laundering and terrorism financing cases.

‘Firmly committed’

On Tuesday, the Bangko Sentral ng Pilipinas (BSP) said it would continue key reforms to fight financial crimes and further strengthen the financial system in line with the country’s removal from the European Union’s (EU) list of high-risk third countries.

The EU’s decision, which took effect on Aug. 5, 2025, marked the third time this year that the Philippines exited an international watchlist. Aside from the February delisting by the FATF, it was also removed from the United Kingdom’s high-risk roster in March.

“The BSP remains firmly committed to driving financial sector reforms, strengthening anti-money laundering/countering terrorism and proliferation financing supervision, and building a resilient, inclusive financial system that supports economic growth and global confidence,” central bank Governor Eli M. Remolona Jr. said in a statement.

Remolona, who also chairs the AMLC, stressed that work was ongoing to further improve the Philippines’ ability to combat illicit financial activities and ensure compliance with global standards.

The BSP said the series of delistings reflected growing international confidence in the country’s financial safeguards.

Other safeguards include time-based restrictions to discourage impulsive behavior, along with user tools to set spending caps, take voluntary breaks or self-exclude from gambling-related payments.