Former Philippine Amusement and Gaming Corp. chair Efraim Genuino. INQUIRER FILE PHOTO
Former Philippine Amusement and Gaming Corp. (Pagcor) Chair Efraim Genuino has been convicted of graft by the Sandiganbayan over the alleged misuse of over P37 million worth of funds for the development of swimmers for the 2012 Olympics in London.
In a 98-page decision promulgated on Friday, the Sandiganbayan’s Third Division meted out on Genuino and his two co-accused — former Pagcor president and chief executive officer Rafael Francisco and former Philippine Sports Commission (PSC) Chair William Ramirez — a jail term from six to 10 years.
The case was over the disbursement of more than P37 million to the Philippine Amateur Swimming Association (Pasa) from 2007 to 2009, which the court said received “unwarranted benefits” and that no other sports association got this kind of benefit.
The Ombudsman filed the graft charges against Genuino and his co-accused in 2016.
The court found Genuino and Francisco responsible for the release of funds to Pasa after they “actively and indispensably participated” in the disbursement of funds.
“They both played a part in approving the release of PSC’s income share from Pagcor to Pasa through their separate individual acts,” read the decision penned by Presiding Justice Amparo Cabotaje-Tang, who is also the concurrent division chair.
Associate Justices Bernelito Fernandez and Ronald Moreno concurred with the decision.
‘Unwarranted benefits’
The court cited the law, which created the PSC which mandates Pagcor to remit 5 percent of its gross income to the sports commission, which forms part to the National Sports Development Fund (NSDF).
However, Pagcor under Genuino and Francisco released the funds for swimmers not through the PSC, but directly to Pasa.
“In this case, the court finds that through their acts of directly remitting a portion of the PSC’s share in Pagcor’s income to Pasa, accused Genuino and Francisco gave unwarranted benefits to Pasa,” the Sandiganbayan pointed out.
It also reiterated that the PSC’s share from the Pagcor forms part of the NSDF, which was supposed to fund various athletes and sports association in the country and not just one.
“In the case of the other sports associations or athletes, they had to go through a certain process to get funding or support from the PSC,” the court stressed.
“To repeat, no other sports association was granted this benefit and the said accused miserably failed to present any valid justification as to why the PSC bypassed the usual procedure in favor of Pasa,” the court added.
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