Get on with Genuino trial, state lawyers ask Sandigan

Former Philippine Amusement and Gaming Corp. Chairman Efraim Genuino. INQUIRER FILE PHOTO

MANILA, Philippines—State prosecutors have asked the Sandiganbayan to proceed with the trial of former Philippine Amusement and Gaming Corp. (Pagcor) Chair Efraim Genuino and several others on multiple graft and malversation charges and deny their motion for consideration for lack of merit.

The consolidated opposition to the motions for reconsideration was filed by Ombudsman Prosecutors Joselito Ferrer, Gay Marie Lubigan-Rafael, Joseph Capistrano and Charmaine Calalang, who said the accused merely used rehashed arguments that had already been passed upon by the court.

Genuino’s coaccused are Rene Figueroa, Ester Hernandez, Rafael Francisco and Valente Custodio. The five are charged in the antigraft court’s Third Division with 19 counts of graft and 20 counts of malversation in connection with unlawful donations and payments.

The prosecutors said the accused’s contention that there had been no judicial determination of probable cause had already been denied by the court in the assailed resolution.

Probable cause

They said the accused merely imputed that the court did not make an “independent and personal” determination of whether there was substantial evidence to support a finding of probable cause.

In the resolution, the prosecutors said the court automatically made a determination and was satisfied that probable cause did exist based on the resolution rendered by the Ombudsman and supporting documents.

“Thus, contrary to the accused/movants allegations, the assailed resolution and the corresponding orders of arrest are not without basis,” the prosecutors said.

They also said that there was no finding of abuse of discretion committed by the Ombudsman in the conduct of the investigation and in the eventual resolution of the case; neither was there a finding that the information was invalid on its face or that the prosecutor committed a manifest error.

Loss for the gov’t

The graft charges stemmed from the promotion of the film “Baler,” a movie production deal between Viva Communications and Batang Iwas Droga Foundation (BIDA).

The Ombudsman found that the government effectively lost money when Pagcor advanced P26,700,000 for 89,000 movie tickets at P300 each.

The tickets were to be offered to casino patrons through the Player Tracking System.

However, records showed casino patrons bought only 7,791 tickets, while 6,253 tickets were sold to the public.

Pagcor employees bought 2,806 tickets through salary deduction, leaving 72,150 unused tickets costing P21,645,000, plus the transmitted sales commission of P474,510.

The total of P22,119,510 was charged to Pagcor’s operating expense fund, on top of the advertising expense of P2,064,989.30.

Graft probers found a conflict of interest on the part Genuino’s son, Erwin Genuino, also the executive producer of “Baler,” because Pagcor facilities and resources were used in the post-production and promotion of the movie.