Aguirre: AMLC responded to request for ‘drug money’ records the same day Duterte ranted

President Rodrigo Duterte's warning seemed to have worked on anti-money laundering officials whom he criticized on Monday for not cooperating with the government's fight against money launderers such as drug lords and their protectors.

On Tuesday, Justice Sec. Vitaliano Aguirre II said that hours after Duterte's speech during the 80th founding anniversary of the National Bureau of Investigation (NBI), the Anti-Money Laundering Council (AMLC) forwarded to them the second batch of transaction records of certain bank accounts being linked to the Bilibid drug trade.

Aguirre said the documents, which he has yet to review, came around 4:30 p.m. Monday, or nearly two hours after Duterte ended his speech.

The justice secretary, however, wondered why November 11 was penciled in as the date on the documents.

"Ibig sabihin nung (November) 11 pa ready na, pero yung 11 ballpen lang, blangko yun, nilagay lang ng 1. It could be on the second, third day (from date of request) ready na," Aguirre told reporters.

Had the AMLC forwarded the bank records at an earlier date, Aguirre said the NBI would have attached them to the complaints filed against Senator Leila De Lima and 17 others before the Department of Justice last week.

The NBI complaints only contained sworn statements, documents, and testimonies of various resource persons, including inmates, who took part in the inquiry of the House of Representatives on the proliferation of illegal drugs inside the New Bilibid Prison.

"Alam mo ang tagal namin hinintay yan at hindi dumarating ang response ng AMLC samantalang maraming linggo na ang lumipas (nung nagpadala kami ng request," Aguirre said.

Duterte's resentment toward the AMLC stemmed from the agency's apparent move of not investigating the accusation of Senator Antonio Trillanes IV during the campaign that he owns several bank accounts that supposedly contain over P200 million.

In his speech, Duterte accused the AMLC and Bangko Sentral ng Pilipinas of "protecting somebody, those who are really into money laundering."

He also said Aguirre noted that the AMLC and BSP were "hard to deal with." — RSJ, GMA News