The Philippine Office of the Ombudsman has filed graft charges against Ephraim Genuino, former chairman of the Philippine Amusement and Gaming Corp., PAGCOR, as well as numerous associates on charges of graft.
The Asia Gaming Brief, citing local media accounts, reported that graft charges were filed in connection to the release of P37 million (US$799,740) to the Philippine Amateur Swimming Association Inc. for the training of swimmers for the 2012 Olympic Games. Those funds reportedly were used to train the athletes at Trace Aquatic Center, allegedly owned by Genuino.
The PAGCOR website posted a summary of the charges that said three ex-officials and 14 others were charged with “malversation”—corrupt acts by public office-holders—in relation to a 2008 film entitled “Baler.” In that alleged incident, the officials misused P26.7 million (US million) of public funds to fund production of the film.
Besides Genuino, other named respondents included former PAGCOR President Rafael Francisco; former Senior Vice President for Corporate Communications Edward King; former Executive Vice President Rene Figueroa; former Vice President of Accounting Ester Hernandez; former Assistant Vice President of the Internal Audit Department Valente Custodio. Former Philippine Sports Commission Chairman William Ramirez and former PASA President Mark Joseph were also included in the charge sheet, according to the Manila Times.
There is a lengthy list of respondents in the “Baler” case as well, including officials of Viva Communications, Inc. and Bida Productions. Erwin Genuino, son of the former chairman, was listed as an executive producer of the film.
In March, the website Interakyson.com reported that, according to the ombudsman, business losses were “effectively shouldered” using government funds when PAGCOR bought 89,000 movie tickets for “Baler” at P300 each or a total of P26.7 million (US$580,000).
Government records show that fewer than 8,000 tickets for the movie were bought by casino patrons; 6,253 were sold to the public; and 2,806 tickets were “sold to employees through salary deduction.”
