ILOILO CITY, Philippines (PNA) – The Bangko Sentral ng Pilipinas (BSP) Iloilo branch recently conducted a briefing on the anti-money laundering act attended by representatives from the banking sector, business, academe, government agencies and media.

The briefing was aimed at raising public awareness of the Anti-money Laundering Act (AMLA) of 2001, otherwise known as Republic Act 9160.

Atty. Rommel Trijo, legal officer of BSP in Manila, said that AMLA serves as protection of the public against unscrupulous persons.

The AMLA criminalizes the act of money laundering as well as creates a financial intelligence unit which imposes requirements on customer identification, freezes, seize and recovery of "dirty money."

It also relaxes strict bank deposit secrecy laws in order to investigate money laundering cases thoroughly.

Trijo said that money laundering is an unlawful activity which aims to make illegal transactions appear as originating from legitimate sources.

Among of these unlawful activity includes graft and corrupt practices, plunder, jueteng and other illegal gambling activities, swindling, smuggling, kidnap for ransom and drug trafficking among others. Money transactions from these criminal acts are covered under the AMLA, said Trijo.

Cebu BRT Study Gets US$1M

CEBU CITY, Philippines (PNA) – The World Bank (WB) has agreed to make funds available for a "full-blown" feasibility study on the Bus Rapid Transit (BRT) in Cebu City.

Cebu City Planning and Development Coordinator Nigel Paul Villarete said that in a recent meeting with WB representatives last week, the latter said at least US$ 1 million (around P43 million) will be earmarked for the project. "I'm very glad to inform Cebuanos that we are on our way to the completion of the BRT," said Villarete.

He said the study will focus on the integration of land use and urban planning to the mass transport system, as well as the BRT's preliminary design and its full feasibility analysis.

The study, Villarete said, will also look into the BRT's efficient fuel use to address environmental concerns.

"The BRT can use ordinary diesel, but usually that's not advisable. You can use LPG or biofuel or electric mode of powering it or you can use the most recent, which is hybrid fuels. All of these will be looked into in the study," he said. Villarete said the study will be conducted in March and will last eight to 10 months.

The funds, Villarete said, will be transferred by WB to the Department of Transportation and Communications, which will conduct the study.
Villarete and WB is drafting the project concept note of the study and its terms and reference to be completed this month.

"We hoped to tender out by January or February, 2011 so that by March, 2011, the full-blown feasibility study will start," he said.

Iloilo Asked for More IT Grads

ILOILO CITY, Philippines (PNA) – The Iloilo Federation for Information Technology (I-FIT) is looking forward to an increase in the human resource need of the information technology (IT) industry, especially those engaged in the business process outsourcing and schools situated even outside of the city have already been urged to produce competitive graduates to fill in the demand.

I-FIT Executive Director Joven Tansi said Iloilo is fast becoming an emerging destination in the Philippines, ranking fourth amongst the country’s next wave cities. Most of those hired here are from city-based colleges and universities but the projection is that there would be a shortage of graduates to meet the labor force demand of the industry.

At present, nine BPOs operate in Iloilo, employing around 3,000 Ilonggos. Starting January, 2011, another call center is set to open here, and this is expected to accommodate another 3,000 employees.

At the moment, two call center firms here are about to open, the Plazuela de Iloilo and a firm run by Ayala Corporation, to meet locators’ demands.

Tansi said the plan is not just to concentrate on city schools but to move away from the city and prepare schools and universities outside the city to meet the industry’s labor needs.