PAGCOR claims in suit party-list BIDA used public funds 

Over P186 million from state-run Philippine Amusement and Gaming Corp. (PAGCOR) were allegedly used to turn an anti-drug abuse foundation into a party-list group, which – supposedly – fielded close associates of former PAGCOR chair Efraim Genuino as nominees.   Part of the funds were supposedly used to develop the campaign on the anti-drug advocacy of Bata Iwas Droga Foundation (BIDA), which would effectively serve as basis for BIDA’s accreditation as a party-list group, PAGCOR legal counsel Jay Santiago said on Friday.   The money was purportedly used to “boost the popularity of BIDA Foundation and/or personalities behind it,” PAGCOR claimed in the  statement.   The money was also used to buy goods and services for BIDA Foundation projects, financial subsidies and grants, and radio and television ads, it added.   “Ang theory ng kaso is that the funds were used to convert it into a party-list group,” Atty. Santiago told GMA News Online in a separate interview. The Commission on Elections (Comelec) accredits party-list groups based on record in promoting their respective advocacies.   BIDA Foundation’s anti-drug campaign encompassed a 13-episode animation series, identification cards, tarpaulins, and 40-page full-color comic books distributed during BIDA’s campus tour.   PAGCOR claimed BIDA received P14.42 million from PAGCOR for the campaign pins, ID cards, tarpaulins and other collaterals through its creative team BIDA Production. It also received P14.15 million for event management, creative design and production of BIDA Foundation’s Christmas projects in 2005 and barangay projects in 2006, the state-run gaming company alleged.   From December 2008 to June 2010, the Genuino-led PAGCOR supposedly approved disbursements amounting to P63.1 million for BIDA’s ad placements on television, radio and print media, PAGCOR said in its statement.   The campaign materials were used to “propagate the personalities” of BIDA Foundation’s nominees, Santiago said.   The party-list’s first nominee is Sheryl Genuino-See – Genuino’s daughter.   Its second and third nominees were Johnny Tan and Emilio Marcelo –suppliers of PAGCOR during Genuino’s term – Santiago said. Marcelo was also a consultant for PAGCOR at the time.   BIDA was accredited as a party-list by the Comelec and was listed 119th on the ballot, but lost in the 2010 automated elections.   GMA News Online tried contacting BIDA Foundation but our calls went unanswered. Genuino's legal counsel Ramon Esguerra, meanwhile, refused to comment on the case since it is "currently under the review of the Ombudsman." 

  PAGCOR filed charges of plunder and graft against Genuino and 20 other former officials of the state-run gaming firm on questionable transactions that supposedly benefited the party-list group from 2003 to 2010.    Santiago said the Department of Justice (DOJ) has already endorsed the case to the Office of the Ombudsman. PAGCOR filed the charges before the DOJ last year.   Also charged were 20 officials of BIDA Foundation, including Genuino-See.   “Umikot ang pera galing sa PAGCOR at dinivert sa BIDA Foundation for their personal and political agenda,” Santiago said.   The PAGCOR lawyer said BIDA-related transactions were “unlawful” since these did not undergo public bidding as required by Republic Act 9184 or the Government Procurement Reform Act.   “At the very least, unlawful na ang disbursements… Yung public funds hindi ginamit for public purposes,” Santiago said.   It was also presumed that the funds could have also been used to fund the electoral campaign of the party-list group during the 2010 elections, according to the PAGCOR lawyer.   “These are funds for the electoral campaign presumably. Wala nang ibang pinagkuhanan ng pera,” he claimed during the interview.   The DOJ on Tuesday recommended the filing of charges of plunder, graft and corruption, and malversation of public funds against Genuino and other officials of the agency for allegedly “(conspiring) with one another in amassing, acquiring and accumulating ill-gotten wealth" amounting to at least P50 million "in the form of illegal donations and irregularly approved sponsorships and contract awards," allegedly to fund the party-list bid of BIDA Foundation.   The department also found probable cause to slap Genuino with graft charges for supposedly using P26.7 million in public funds to buy tickets and passes for the movie "Baler," a project of Viva Communication Inc. and BIDA Foundation.   In its third case, the DOJ found probable cause to charge Genuino with malversation of public funds and property under Article 217 of the Revised Penal Code for allegedly misappropriating more than 1,200 cavans of rice that the Philippines received from foreign donors to help typhoon victims.    Last July, PAGCOR filed graft and plunder charges against Genuino and other PAGCOR former officials and coffee concessionaire Carlota Manalo-Tan for allegedly conniving in a P258-million coffee supply contract in which the government lost a lot of money. — VS, GMA News