Anti-graft court denies plea to junk charges vs ex-PAGCOR exec

THE PHILIPPINES’ anti-graft court has rejected a plea to junk the charges against a former chairman of the Philippine Amusement and Gaming Corp. (PAGCOR) over the anomalous use of funds for movie tickets worth P26.7 million in 2008.  

In a six-page resolution dated April 9, the Sandiganbayan said former PAGCOR chair Efraim C. Genuino did not raise any new arguments to dismiss the case. 

“We become repetitive,” Associate Justice Amparo M. Cabotaje-Tang said in the ruling. “The court is not inclined to embark on another extended discussion of the same issue again.”  

Mr. Genuino’s official Facebook page did not immediately reply to a Facebook Messenger chat seeking comment.  

Last year, the Supreme Court junked the ex-PAGCOR chairman’s plea to dismiss the graft charges since he prematurely brought the case to the High Court before the anti-graft court could hand down its final verdict.  

He argued that PAGCOR’s income is not considered “public funds” and was not subject to the Commission on Audit’s (CoA) jurisdiction, which flagged the anomalous disbursement. 

Mr. Genuino added that the purchase of movie tickets did not result in any “under injury to the government or any private entity.”  

The anti-graft court disagreed saying the Supreme Court had affirmed CoA’s disallowance of the release of funds for the 89,000 movie tickets amounting to P26.7 million.   

The Sandiganbayan noted that the High Court only decided on whether the CoA abused its discretion when it disallowed the amount, not on the ex-PAGCOR official’s guilt or innocence. — John Victor D. Ordoñez