By Michelle Remo

MANILA, Philippines—Some P1.21 billion has been frozen as of May, an election month, on suspicion the funds came from illegal sources, the Anti-Money Laundering Council (AMLC) reported.

The AMLC said that of the amount, P1.075 billion was denominated in pesos, the equivalent of P129.97 million was denominated in US dollars and the equivalent of P24,002 was in Japanese yen.

AMLC Executive Director Vicente Aquino earlier said his office had been receiving reports from banks and other financial institutions of an increase in “suspicious” transactions involving the movement of money.

Aquino said the AMLC had stepped up its efforts to monitor financial transactions amid the rise in the number of transactions suspected of being money-laundering schemes.

As of end-May, according to the AMLC report, there were 8,520 transactions considered “suspicious” that banks and other financial institutions reported to the council.

The AMLC added that there were 86.2 million transactions that were automatically reported to the AMLC because these involved the movement of at least P500,000 within one banking day.

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