Senator wants PAGCOR charter corruption-proofed
A senator has filed a resolution to conduct an inquiry into possible amendments to the Philippine Amusement and Gaming Corp. (PAGCOR) charter. In Senate Resolution 211, Sen. Miriam Defensor-Santiago said PAGCORâs operations, officers, and funds âmust be closely monitored and scrutinized to curb corruption and anomalies within the corporation, as its officers have been linked to various corruption scandals throughout the years." She said the PAGCOR charter should be âupdated" so that the corporationâs funds would be allocated to projects that are appropriate and applicable to the âpresent situation and policy" of the country. Sec. 7 of the PAGCOR charter requires the agency to âallocate and distribute, with the approval of the Office of the President, the earnings of the corporation earmarked to finance infrastructure and socio-civic projects" and submit to the Office of the President a list of all the infrastructure and socio-civic projects âthat might have been financed from the corporationâs earnings." Sec. 12 of the same charter also requires PAGCOR to set aside and allocate 50 percent of its aggregate gross earnings to infrastructure and socio-civic projects like flood control, sewerage and sewage, nutritional control, population control, Tulungan ng Bayan centers, beautification, and Kilusang Kabuhayan at Kaunlaran projects. The PAGCOR charter should be amended to specifically state the priority projects, Defensor-Santiago said. The list of projects âthat might have been financed from the corporationâs earnings" is subject to misinterpretation, she pointed out. â[It] presents itself as a possible loophole that can be abused by its officers and therefore should be amended." Defensor-Santiago said said that the charter should be amended to âinstitute accountability mechanisms" by requiring an independent audit to improve transparency in its operations. Sec. 15 of the PAGCOR charter provides that the Commission on Audit or any government agency that the Office of the President designates shall appoint a representative to audit the corporation. However, Defensor-Santiago said only half of PAGCORs earnings are subject government audit and that the charter is âsilent" on an independent audit for the other half of the state firmâs funds. PAGCOR was created by Presidential Decree 1869 âto centralize and integrate the right and authority to operate and conduct games of chance into one corporate entity to be controlled, administered, and supervised by the government." PAGCOR earned P25.4 bllion 2006 and has been performing âexceptionally" in the past years, the senator said. â JE/VS, GMANews.TV