July 14, 2017

REPUBLIC ACT NO. 10927

AN ACT DESIGNATING CASINOS AS COVERED PERSONS UNDER REPUBLIC

ACT NO. 9160, OTHERWISE KNOWN AS THE "ANTI-MONEY LAUNDERING
ACT OF 2001," AS AMENDED

SECTION 1. Section 3 (a) of Republic Act No. 9160, as amended, is

hereby further amended to read as follows:
"(a) 'Covered persons,' natural or juridical, refer to:
"xxx xxx xxx
"(8) casinos, including internet and ship-based casinos, with
respect to their casino cash transactions related to their gaming
operations.
"xxx xxx xxx."
SECTION 2. Section 3 (b) of Republic Act No. 9160 is hereby further
amended to read as follows:
"(b) 'Covered transaction' is a transaction in cash or other
equivalent monetary instrument involving a total amount in excess of
Five hundred thousand pesos (P500,000.00) within one (1) banking
day; for covered persons under Section 3(a)(8), a single casino cash
transaction involving an amount in excess of Five million pesos
(P5,000,000.00) or its equivalent in any other currency."
SECTION 3. Section 3 of Republic Act No. 9160, as amended, is
hereby further amended by inserting a new paragraph (l) to read as follows:
"xxx xxx xxx
"(l) For purposes of covered persons under Section 3(a)(8),
the following terms are hereby defined as follows:
"(1) 'Casino' refers to a business authorized by the
appropriate government agency to engage in gaming operations:
"(i) 'Internet-based casino' shall refer to casinos in which
persons participate by the use of remote communication facilities
such as, but not limited to, internet, telephone, television, radio or
any other kind of electronic or other technology for facilitating
communication; and
"(ii) 'Ship-based casino' shall refer to casinos, the operation
of which is undertaken on board a vessel, ship, boat or any other
water-based craft wholly or partly intended for gambling;
"(2) 'Casino cash transaction' refers to transactions
involving the receipt of cash by a casino paid by or on behalf of a
customer; or transactions involving the payout of cash by a casino to
a customer or to any person in his/her behalf; and
"(3) 'Gaming operations' refer to the activities of the casino
offering games of chance and any variations thereof approved by the
appropriate government authority."
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 SECTION 4. Section 10 of Republic Act No. 9160, as amended, is
hereby further amended to read as follows:
"SEC. 10. Freezing of Monetary Instrument or Property. —
Upon a verified ex parte petition by the AMLC and after determination
that probable cause exists that any monetary instrument or property
is in any way related to an unlawful activity as defined in Section 3(i)
hereof, the Court of Appeals may issue a freeze order which shall be
effective immediately, for a period of twenty (20) days. Within the
twenty (20)-day period, the Court of Appeals shall conduct a
summary hearing, with notice to the parties, to determine whether or
not to modify or lift the freeze order, or extend its effectivity. The
total period of the freeze order issued by the Court of Appeals under
this provision shall not exceed six (6) months. This is without
prejudice to an asset preservation order that the Regional Trial Court
having jurisdiction over the appropriate anti-money laundering case
or civil forfeiture case may issue on the same account depending
upon the circumstances of the case, where the Court of Appeals will
remand the case and its records: Provided, That if there is no case
filed against a person whose account has been frozen within the
period determined by the Court of Appeals, not exceeding six (6)
months, the freeze order shall be deemed ipso facto lifted: Provided,
further, That this new rule shall not apply to pending cases in the
courts. In any case, the court should act on the petition to freeze
within twenty-four (24) hours from filing of the petition. If the
application is filed a day before a nonworking day, the computation of
the twenty-four (24)-hour period shall exclude the nonworking days.
"The freeze order or asset preservation order issued under this
Act shall be limited only to the amount of cash or monetary
instrument or value of property that the court finds there is probable
cause to be considered as proceeds of a predicate offense, and the
freeze order or asset preservation order shall not apply to amounts in
the same account in excess of the amount or value of the proceeds of
the predicate offense.
"xxx xxx xxx."
SECTION 5. Section 18 of Republic Act No. 9160 is hereby amended
by inserting a new paragraph to read as follows:
"SEC. 18. Implementing Rules and Regulations. —
"xxx xxx xxx
"Within ninety (90) days from the effectivity of this Act, the
AMLC, the Philippine Amusement and Gaming Corporation (PAGCOR)
and other government regulatory agencies shall jointly promulgate
the rules and regulations to implement the provisions of this Act as
applicable to casinos as covered institutions. The implementing rules
applicable to other covered institutions shall not apply to casinos
unless it is expressly so provided under the rules and regulations to
implement the provisions of this Act."
SECTION 6. Separability Clause. — If any provision of this Act is
declared unconstitutional, the same shall not affect the validity and
effectivity of other provisions hereof.
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 SECTION 7. Repealing Clause . — All laws, decrees, orders, and
issuances or portions thereof, which are inconsistent with the provisions of
this Act, are hereby repealed, amended or modified accordingly.
SECTION 8. Effectivity. — This Act shall take effect fifteen (15) days
following its publication in the Official Gazette or in any newspaper of
general circulation.
Approved: July 14, 2017.

Published in the Official Gazette, Vol. 113, No. 30, p. 5436 on July 24, 2017.

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