The Philippines was still on the Financial Action Task Force (FATF) gray list when the body released its list in June 2024, after the country had promised it would be out by 20241. The FATF had added the Philippines to the gray list in June 2021, an indication of deficiencies in tracking and preventing illicit financial flows1.
The Anti-Money Laundering Council (AMLC) said among the mechanisms it needs to enhance is combating money laundering by casino junkets1. Suspicious transaction reports (STRs) in the Philippines related to casino junkets rose steadily from 2016, declined in 2020 at the height of the pandemic, and then climbed steeply from 2021, according to the AMLC1.
The gray listing sits alongside the rise of Philippine offshore gaming operators (POGOs). Pagcor created the POGO category as early as September 2016, and in December 2016 President Rodrigo Duterte ordered the closure of all online gaming firms1. Republic Act 9487 authorized Pagcor to regulate games of chance, games of cards and games of numbers, and does not mention offshore gaming1. A March 2024 Supreme Court decision junked one petition challenging the constitutionality of POGOs because of a technicality, violating the hierarchy of courts1.
Winston Casio, spokesperson of the Presidential Anti-Organized Crime Commission (PAOCC), described the practical effect of the listing:
"What's the effect if you're on the gray list? If you are a Filipino importer, you would like to import consumer goods from abroad. You would have to spend more dollars as opposed to if we are not on that list."
Casio also said the country is weak on digital forensics, citing computers seized in a May 2023 raid on Sun Valley that had still not been subjected to digital forensic examination a year later1. He said the Philippines went from being "almost number one in online gaming almost equal to Gibraltar" to being "among the largest scam farms" in Southeast Asia1.
| Date | Development |
|---|---|
| June 2021 | FATF includes the Philippines on its gray list1 |
| May 2023 | Sun Valley raid; seized computers not forensically examined a year later1 |
| March 2024 | Supreme Court junks a POGO petition on a technicality1 |
| June 2024 | Philippines still on the FATF list1 |
What it means for players
The gray listing concerns how the country tracks and prevents illicit financial flows, and the AMLC has named casino junkets as an area needing improvement1. For anyone gambling in the Philippines, that points to tighter scrutiny of how money moves through casino and junket channels rather than to any change in what games are legal. The gambling regulators and licenses guide sets out which bodies license what in the region, and the Philippines guide covers the local market. Offshore gaming is a separate matter: the POGO ban guide tracks that policy, and players arriving from China or Cambodia are covered in those country guides.
What happens next
The Philippines has not been reported as setting a new date for leaving the gray list. The AMLC has identified casino junket money laundering as a mechanism it needs to enhance1. A trafficking complaint against former Bamban mayor Alice Guo is still being resolved by Department of Justice prosecutors, which is why there is no court-issued warrant or hold departure order against her1. Her sister Sheila and a Porac POGO worker, Cassandra Li Ong, were arrested in Indonesia and are being held by Philippine authorities without a court charge, while Guo remains at large, also without a court charge1.
Sources1 sources
- Shades of gray: How PH ended up with a POGO crisis, rappler.com
