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Request for aid must have referral from Palace, authorized agencies PAGCOR says after fraud attempt


The Philippine Amusement and Gaming Corp. (PAGCOR) said it will still accept medical financial assistance applications, but only from those with referral letters.

"As endorsed by, usually, the Office of the President which is our mandate anyway, or as endorsed by pertinent agencies," PAGCOR's vice president for Corporate Social Responsibility Jimmy Bondoc said.

He added that the company is "more than glad" to receive referrals for aid from the Department of Social Welfare and Development and the Philippine Charity Sweepstakes Office.

PAGCOR earlier announced it will temporarily stop receiving requests for financial assistance following the incident involving a couple who attempted to defraud the company by submitting "spurious documents for fictitious medical cases."

According to Dano Tingcungco's report on "State of the Nation with Jessica Soho" on Wednesday, Agustin and Corazon Rebolledo were arrested by the Manila Police District (MPD) operatives, following an entrapment operation.

"All in all ang ginagamit dito ay different names, different sickness. We also discovered that all the documents were fictitious," MPD Public Information Office chief, Lt. Col. Carlo Manuel said.

Agustin argued they were only tasked to submit fake documents by three people, in exchange of P5000 for every transaction.

The suspects are facing charges of falsification of individuals, documents and certificates.

With this incident, Bondoc said the agency has to be extra careful with every transaction.

"We have to check our records kung may kapareho itong dokumento na baka nalusutan kami dahil kami naman ay tao lamang, even if we do have some mechanisms in place. But so far wala pa naman kaming nakikitang similar, for now, it looks like an isolated incident," he said.

PAGCOR, a 100 percent government-owned-and-controlled corporation (GOCC) under the Office of the President, accepts over 200 walk-in applicants every day.

Under its charter, PAGCOR is mandated to generate revenues for the country's government's socio-civic and national development programs.

Republic Act 7656 or the Dividend Law mandates PAGCOR to remit at least 50 percent of its annual net earnings as cash, stock, and/or property as dividends to the national government. —Ma. Angelica Garcia/LDF, GMA News

Tags: pagcor, fraud
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