Anti-Money Laundering Council(AMLCS)

March 1, 2023 Dear Mr. Gaviola, Greetings! Thank you for your request dated Feb 10, 2023 04:28:40 PM under Executive Order No. 2 (s. 2016) on Freedom of Information in the Executive Branch. Particularly, you are requesting for the most recent list of Politically Exposed Persons (PEPs) in the Philippines for reference purposes when doing due diligence. Rule 2, Section 1 (zzz) of the 2018 Implementing Rules and Regulations (2018 IRR) of Republic Act No. 9160, otherwise known as The Anti-Money Laundering Act of 2001, as amended (AMLA) defines a Politically-Exposed Person (PEP) as “an individual who is or has been entrusted with prominent public position in (a) the Philippines with substantial authority over policy, operations or the use or allocation of government-owned resources; (b) a foreign state; or (c) an international organization”. We regret to inform you that the AMLC cannot provide a list of PEPs, since we do not maintain a database of said information, as this will only serve to limit the coverage of identified PEPs. Moreover, it is the covered persons’ responsibility to identify and verify the PEPs considering that they know more about their customers’ profile. Thus, the definition provided in the 2018 IRR of the AMLA should suffice in the identification of PEPs. For guidance purposes, however, examples on who may be considered as domestic PEPs in the Philippines are provided: (a) The President and Vice President of the Republic of the Philippines; (b) Senators and Representatives in Congress; (c) Justices of the Supreme Court; (d) Justices of appellate courts and judges of lower courts, for branches or offices of covered persons in the relevant judicial regions; (e) Heads and deputies of Constitutional Commissions and offices; (f) Heads and deputies of national government agencies; (g) Heads and deputies of regional offices of national government agencies, for branches or offices of covered persons in the relevant regions; (h) Heads and deputies of city or municipal (or barangay, if any) offices of national government agencies, for branches or offices of covered persons in the relevant city or municipality (or barangay, if any); (i) Chief executives (and their administrators) of local government units, for branches or offices of covered persons in the relevant local government units; (j) Members of the Sangguniang Panlalawigan, Panglungsod, Pambayan, and Pambarangay, for branches or offices of covered persons in the relevant province, city or municipality, or barangay; and (k) Prominent public officials, regardless of whether they are in their territorial jurisdiction, where the covered person feels that such public official can exert influence on them For international organization PEPs, members of senior management or individuals who have been entrusted with equivalent functions, i.e. directors, deputy directors and members of the board or equivalent functions, may be considered. Examples of these are the Secretary General and President of the United Nations (UN), Member-Representatives of the UN Security Council and other organs of the UN, and heads of the World Bank, Asian Development Bank, International Monetary Fund, Financial Action Task Force, Asia-Pacific Group on Money Laundering, and other international organizations and non-government organizations. Finally, the following are examples of foreign PEPs: (a) Heads of State or of government; (b) Senior politicians; (c) Senior government, judicial or military officials; (d) Senior executives of state owned corporations; and (e) Important political party officials. It is informed, however, that the aforementioned list is not exclusive and is merely provided for guidance purposes. For detailed information, it is suggested that you visit the Department of Interior and Local Government (DILG) website for the list of elected local officials and the Department of Budget and Management (DBM) website for the Philippine Government Directory for Agencies and Officials. We hope we have been of assistance. Thank you. Respectfully, FOI Decision Maker