Another House committee to probe Pagcor payoffs

MANILA, Philippines—The committee on good government at the House of Representatives is poised to conduct a parallel investigation into alleged anomalies involving former officials of the Philippine Amusement and Gaming Corp. (Pagcor) amid fresh revelations that a former consultant of the state-run gambling agency received $30 million from Japanese casino billionaire Kazuo Okada.

The committee headed by Representative Jerry Treñas would act on a two-year-old resolution filed by Representatives Teodoro Casiño and Neri Colmenares who sought a probe into the “various multi-million anomalies attending” Pagcor during the previous administration.

In their resolution, Casiño and Colmenares alleged that Pagcor, under then chairman Efraim Genuino, “practically made (the agency) a milking cow.” The committee has so far held only one hearing on the resolution, Casiño said Saturday.

“This new allegation should put more pressure on the committee to investigate,” he told the Philippine Daily Inquirer, referring to the $30 million bribe allegedly received by Rodolfo Soriano, a former Pagcor consultant and purported Genuino bagman.

Soriano allegedly received the amount in a series of payments in 2010 when Okada’s Universal Entertainment Corp. was seeking tax and other government concessions for a $2 billion casino project at the Entertainment City near Manila Bay.

“Can you imagine how big $30 million is?” Casiño said, noting initial information that Soriano had received a total of $15 million in separate transactions in 2010.

Not satisfied with a separate hearing conducted by the committee on games and amusement Wednesday, Casiño wrote Treñas the following day, reminding him of the resolution filed in 2010.

“The committee will act on the letter. I am in favor of conducting a hearing,” Treñas said in a text message.

Casiño said both the committees on good government and games and amusement could hold parallel hearings on Pagcor. He said the former could focus on alleged corruption during Genuino’s time, while the latter could tackle the functions of Pagcor as a regulator.

Representative Amado Bagatsing, games and amusements committee chairman, earlier downplayed the allegation against Genuino, saying there was still no evidence linking the former Pagcor boss to the alleged payoffs.

He said only Soriano would be invited to the next committee hearing.

Bagatsing expressed doubt about the alleged payoffs after learning that they took place two years after Okada’s Tiger Resort Leisure and Entertainment Inc. was granted a provisional Pagcor license.

“I don’t know if any businessman would do that, pay off an outgoing [official] and you already had a license for the last two years,” he said during the hearing.