THE Philippine Amusement and Gaming Corporation (Pagcor) did not validate the business documents of Global COMRCI before it inked its 10-year, P6 billion contract with the third-party auditor, an agency official told senators yesterday.
Pagcor hired Global COMRCI in 2017 for a contract price of P6 billion for 10 years to monitor and audit the finances of Philippine Offline Gaming Operators (POGO) in the country, including assessing the amount of taxes that POGOs are supposed to pay to the government.
Jessa Mariz Fernandez from Pagcor’s Offshore Gaming Licensing Department admitted to senators during Monday’s hearing that they were not aware that Global COMRCI’s papers were questionable.
Sen. Sherwin Gatchalian, chairperson of the Senate committee on ways and means, told Pagcor officials to “correct” the oversight, even as he said he will refer the matter to the Senate blue ribbon committee for a possible investigation into the acts of malfeasance and misfeasance.
“It is necessary to determine how Pagcor chose the company… I will discuss with Sen. Francis Tolentino kung merong probable cause, kung may basis ang investigation but sa nakita ko there should be an investigation (I will discuss this with Sen. Francis Tolentino if there is probable cause, if there is basis for the Blue Ribbon to investigate the involved officials but for me there should be an investigation [of the Blue Rubbon]),” he said.
During yesterday’s hearing, senators found out that Global COMRCI has no technical capability to do the audit work to determine if POGOs are paying the right taxes to the government.
Company officials were invited to attend the Senate ways and means committee hearing but no one arrived to represent and defend the supposed auditing firm.
Likewise, it was discovered that the third-party auditor submitted a certificate issued by a bank which is not registered with the Bureau of Internal Revenue, did not have an office, and was itself not paying the right taxes, among others.
Roderick Consolacion, Pagcor vice president for legal, said the gaming agency will ask the company to return the estimated P800 million that it has so far received as compensation since 2017.
