is the Executive Director and head of the operational arm of the AMLC, executing the AMLC’s vision and ensuring sustainable reforms for the Secretariat, since 2017. Prior to this, he has been with the Bangko Sentral ng Pilipinas for 21 years, holding various positions in the areas of banking supervision, legal counselling, and litigation as well as financial investigation.

Atty. Racela contributed largely to legislative and regulatory framework developments, which filled critical gaps in the country’s anti-money laundering and counter-terrorism financing (AML/CTF) defense, such as Republic Act (RA) No.10927, known in local parlance as the casino law, and its Implementing Rules and Regulations; and RA No. 11479 or the Anti-Terrorism Act of 2020, to name a few.

Further, under his supervision were the approval of the Second National Risk Assessment Report, which evaluated the overall threat and effectiveness of the Philippines’ AML/CTF mechanisms; and the approval of Executive Order No. 68 series of 2018 by the President, which embodies the country’s National AML/CTF Strategy (NACS).
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He obtained his Bachelor of Laws degree from San Beda College and his Accounting degree from De La Salle University. He also holds a Master of Laws degree in International Legal Studies from Georgetown University Law Center in Washington, DC, USA, where he graduated as a Dean’s Lister.