(FILE PHOTOS)
MANILA, Philippines — Sen. Sherwin Gatchalian on Saturday reiterated calls for the Philippine Amusement and Gaming Corp. (Pagcor) to pursue the filing of criminal and administrative charges against personalities behind the swindling of the government in the Philippine offshore gaming operations (POGO).
He said Pagcor should “vigorously” pursue its intention of filing appropriate charges against its own erring officials and officers of Global ComRCI, its designated third-party auditor, which allegedly duped the government in the P6-billion auditing contract.
Gatchalian cited how the investigation by his committee unearthed “numerous irregularities” on how Global ComRCI secured a 10-year consultancy contract with Pagcor, which started in 2018.
“Let’s not forget the crucial role of the third-party auditor in determining the taxes and regulatory fees of POGOs — every peso that POGOs do not pay to the government is a loss for the entire country. So, it appears that Pagcor also swindled the Filipino people,” the senator said in one of the committee’s hearings.
He welcomed Pagcor’s decision to terminate its consultancy agreement with Global ComRCI, which, he said, might have saved the government up to P5 billion from the unexpended contract payments.
The findings of alleged irregularities by the Senate ways and means committee supposedly led Pagcor to terminate its contract with Global ComRCI, which got P842 million in partial payment for the first four years of operations.
Gatchalian, however, insisted that Pagcor should recover the P842 million from Global ComRCI.