Halister News

(Bloomberg) -- Philippine President Rodrigo Duterte wasn’t targeting Bangko Sentral ng Pilipinas nor Governor Amando Tetangco when he lashed out against Anti-Money Laundering Council during speeches Thursday, Finance Secretary Carlos Dominguez says.

• “I believe the president is expressing his frustration with what he perceives to be non cooperation of AMLC; therefore he’s going after them,” Dominguez says in phone interview Thursday evening
• “I don’t believe he was talking about the central bank. He has the highest respect for the institution and the people at the central bank. In fact, he had authorized me to ask Tetangco to consider staying on,” Dominguez says
• “The difficulty here is that the BSP governor is the chairman of the Council,” finance chief says when asked whether Duterte may have been confusing central bank with AMLC; he adds it would be wise to clarify roles in dirty- money watchdog and to separate its policymaking from investigation
• Dominguez says he’s still “in deep discussions” with Tetangco about Duterte’s offer to amend law limiting BSP governor’s tenure if he would agree to stay for a third term
• NOTE: Duterte Warns Dirty-Money Watchdog: Cooperate on Probe or Else Link
• NOTE: Philippine Central Bank Chief Favors BSP Official as Successor Link