Palace welcomes leave of official tagged in Pagcor plunder case

MANILA, Philippines – A Government Service Insurance System director that served under the past Philippine Amusement and Gaming Corp. board has filed a leave of absence after he was implicated in the P186-million plunder case the government filed against former members of the Pagcor board.

Presidential Spokesperson Edwin Lacierda lauded GSIS board member Danilo Gozo’s going on leave but added the administration would not ask the other former Pagcor director in the plunder case—National Telecommunications Commission commissioner Gamaliel Cordoba—to do the same.

“(Whether Cordoba) is staying in NTC or not, it won’t change the fact that documents have already been submitted to the Department of Justice and it could no longer be tampered,” Lacierda said during Tuesday’s news briefing in Malacañang.

Lacierda made the remarks as he was pressed on whether Malacañang should ask Cordoba to also take a leave in line with the administration’s stance against corruption.

“Again, with respect to his decision whether to stay or not, we will leave it to them because there is a presumption of innocence among the respondents,” Lacierda added.

Lacierda said Gozo “has taken the extra mile of taking a leave but it will be dependent on the respondents’ concerned what their decision would be.”

“I know for a fact that Mr. Danny Gozo is already taking a leave of absence from GSIS so as to avoid any appearance of favoritism in so far as being an incumbent official in the GSIS right now. So we welcome the effort or the gesture of Mr. Danny Gozo to take a leave of absence,” Lacierda said.

“As far as Mr. Cordoba is concerned, I’m not aware of what action he plans to do after being charged as one of the respondents in the plunder case,” he added.

Lacierda said Gozo would not receive any compensation as GSIS director during his leave of absence

“He won’t receive any compensation. And (GSIS board members’) compensation is based on their appearance in the directors’ meeting. So, since he is going to take a leave, he will not be getting any compensation,” Lacierda said.

Lacierda said it would be up to the respondents in the present board’s case against the past Pagcor administration to testify against the past chair and plunder respondent Ephraim Genuino.

“The better judge of that will be the lawyers of the respondents. If they have any testimony they can offer… and if it will further again the case against the Pagcor chairman and whatever happened during those times, certainly it would be something they would offer to the Department of Justice,” Lacierda said.