Genuino faces slew of criminal cases over Pagcor fund misuse
Efraim C. Genuino INQUIRER FILE PHOTO
MANILA, Philippines—The Office of the Ombudsman on Thursday ordered the filing of slew of criminal cases against former Philippine Amusement and Gaming Corporation (Pagcor) chairman Efraim Genuino before the Sandiganbayan for misuse of funds.
In a 43-page joint review dated Feb. 25 but was released to the public Thursday ordered the filing of multiple counts of malversation and graft case against Genuino.
Genuino’s son Erwin will also be slapped with a case for violation of Republic Act 6713 or the Code of Conduct and Ethical Standards for Public Officers and Employees.
Aside from the two, Ombudsman Conchita Carpio-Morales also found basis to file one count of graft case against Rafael Francisco, Jose Benedicto, Rene Figueroa, Edward King, Ester Hernandez and Valente Custodio in connection with the misuse of funds for the promotion of the film “Baler,” in 20009 and Batas Iwas Droga Foundation (BIDA).
Morales said business losses were shouldered by the government when Pagcor advanced the cost for 89,000 movie tickets at P300 each or a total of P26,700,000 which was contrary to the scheme approved by Pagcor to merely offer “Baler” movie tickets to casino patrons through Player Tracking System (PTS) points.
Records from Pagcor showed that only 7,791 tickets were bought by casino patrons while 6,253 tickets were sold by Pagcor branches to the public and 2,806 tickets were sold to employees through salary deduction thus leaving 72,150 unused tickets worth P21,645,000 plus transmitted sales commission of P474,510 for a total of P22,119,510 representing marketing expenses that was charged to Pagcor’s operating expense fund, on top of the advertising expense of P2,064,989.30.
Morales said relevant documents were processed in one day while check-payment was released the following day.
She also discovered conflict of interest on the part of Genuino, Benedicto, Francisco and King as they were incorporators of the Batang Iwas Droga Foundation (Bida), which produced the film with Viva Communications.
The same can be told about Genuino’s son Erwin, then Pagcor executive assistant and executive producer of “Baler,” when Pagcor facilities and resources were used in the post-production and promotion of the movie.
Meanwhile, Genuino, King, Francisco, Figueroa, Hernandez, and Custodio will be charged for another case with 17 counts of malversation and 17 counts of violation of the Anti-Graft Law for unlawful donations and payments.
Morales took note of the irregularity in the indiscriminate grant of case advance disbursements worth P44 million from Pagcor’s intelligence funds “and upon reaching the allowable ceiling, charging the amount to the operating expenses realigned as intelligence funds in favor of private entities like BIDA Foundation, Bida Production, Wildformat Inc., and Pencil First, without any public purpose and failure to comply with legal and regulatory requirements.”
The resolution dated February 25 stated the funds were released even before the documents requesting for such release were accomplished.
It also found the “favored-son treatment” in the transactions worth more than P50 million used by Bida to procure tarpaulin, shirts, caps, promotional items, stage production and sponsorship expenses taken from Pagcor funds.
Additional malversation and graft charges will also be filed against the six respondents for channeling P63 million in Pagcor funds to the advertising placements of Bida’s campaign for a party-list seat in 2010.
Lastly, the Ombudsman found Genuino and King liable in relation to Pagcor’s shouldering of the forwarding, storage and brokerage of 300 metric tons of donated rice that were already packed into 10,000 bags at 30 kilograms/bag.
The rice donated by a Japanese firm for the victims of typhoon “Frank” in 2008 was allegedly repacked into smaller bags bearing the images and political slogans of brothers Erwin and Anthony Genuino in 2010.
The bags of rice were then released to the Genuino-owned Trace Computer College in Laguna, among others.
