If we command our wealth, we shall be rich and free. If our wealth commands us, we are poor indeed
— Anglo-Irish writer-philosopher Edmund Burke
APART FROM GOING after those involved in corruption in government like the flood control scam and finding proof to send them to jail, an important aspect of the mission is to recover the stolen fund supposedly pocketed by a number of high-ranking officials in the Marcos Jr. administration.
However, this appears to be “easier said than done.” Although those ill-gotten moneys in the banks could be easily targeted and frozen, there are also so-called dirty cash not kept in banks and laundered in several ways that would be extremely difficult to recover.
This view is supported by Bangko Sentral ng Pilipinas governor Eli Remolona Jr., also the chairperson of the Anti-Money Laundering Council (AMLC), who admitted that it would really be challenging to track all money stolen from the government that are not in any banking institution.
‘The truth is that our country still has a lot of growth potential and recovery can be done if the right decisions are made in who to support in 2028 when we the electorate once again choose those who will lead us under a new administration for the next six years and beyond.’
Remolona cited this at the Economic Briefing organized by the Management Association of the Philippines (MAP), where he highlighted that while the AMLC can monitor bank accounts and, in fact has already frozen assets worth almost P25 billion—consisting of bank accounts, e-wallet accounts, insurance policies, and other assets linked to the flood control scandal—those not deposited in banks may be harder to track.
(The) problem here, he said, is that “we can only do something if the money is in the bank (so) they will need the help of other agencies to look for potentially stolen money outside the formal banking sector— including possible huge amounts of cash inside homes.”
MONEY LAUNDERING
In the meantime, the BSP chief added they are strengthening AMLC to better track or identify money laundering schemes. There are current tools, he said, but they need more: “We had some tools. We’ve succeeded in using them. I would admit we need more tools. We’re getting help from international organizations.”
On another point, too, he disclosed that an economic recovery is expected this year following a weaker-than-expected growth in 2025 due to the flood control issue. But he also stated the 2025 figure may be a more realistic growth rate of the country since the higher growth rates in 2023 and 2024 were not yet impacted by the flood control controversy. He said expenditures were high in 2023 and 2024, but now that money likely did not go to the intended projects.
For our take in all the hullabaloo, we realize that not all the public funds did not actually go to investment or consumption and a lot of it went to cash that was stored in people’s basements, so we have to make our ownadjustments.
POTENTIAL AND RECOVERY
The truth is that our country still has a lot of growth potential and recovery can be done if the right decisions are made in who to support in 2028 when we the electorate once again choose those who will lead us under a new administration for the next six years and beyond.
What’s unfortunate, though, is that from those we will be voting, it’s apparent that they are the same candidates we have chosen before so we know what’s going to happen after the election are done—the same sort of leaders will sit to decide our fate, good or bad.
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