THE Supreme Court has absolved former Philippine Sports Commission chairman William “Butch” Ramirez and former Philippine Amusement and Gaming Corp. chairman Efraim Genuino of graft over PAGCOR’s release of P37 million to the defunct Philippine Amateur Swimming Association for the training of the national team from the 2008 to 2009.
A copy of the resolution obtained by Malaya Business Insight issued on Nov. 26, 2024 and released to Divina Law, the legal firm contracted by Ramirez to pursue his case, last March 20, the SC second division reversed the ruling of the Sandiganbayan convicting both officials for the alleged illegal transfer of funds to the swimming body headed then by the late Mark Joseph.
“The prosecution failed to establish that they (Genuino and Ramirez) acted with corrupt intent, fraudulent motives or in pursuit of some dishonest design and or unethical interest,” the ruling said.
“For failure to prove corrupt intent on the part of accused-appellants Genuino, (PAGCOR president Rafael Francisco), and Ramirez, the prosecution failed to prove that they violated Section 3(e) of the Republic Act No. 3019 (The Anti-Graft and Corrupt Practices Act),” the SC said.
“Perforce, their acquittal necessarily follows,” the ruling stressed.
The case stemmed from PAGCOR’s several disbursements to PASA, the local swimming body then, for 18 months, totaling P37,063,488.21 from 2008 to 2009.
Government prosecutors claimed that these violated Section 26 of Republic Act 6847, the law creating the PSC, stating that “5 percent of the gross income of PAGCOR should be automatically remitted to the PSC.’’
Ramirez maintained that PAGCOR’s release of the funds directly to PASA was done without his knowledge or consent.
In his plea, the former PSC honcho pointed out that the funds were direct financial assistance to PASA, deducted from PAGCOR’s operational expense, and not from the PSC’s five percent share from the government gaming body’s gross monthly income remitted to the National Sports Development Fund.
The high court ruling underscored that the direct release of funds to PASA was authorized by the PAGCOR board headed by Genuino “and that Ramirez did not give any unwarranted benefit or advantage to PASA at the expense of other athletes or national sports associations.”
Further research by the SC showed the funds deducted from PSC’s PAGCOR remittance were returned through offsetting, absolving Ramirez of any misconduct.
The acquittal was a huge vindication for the former PSC chairman, under whose first watch the country won the Southeast Asian Games for the first time in the 2005 edition hosted by the country with 112 gold, 84 silver and 94 bronze medals.
He was also the national chief of mission of the Philippine contingent in the 2006 Doha Asian Games, where PH standard bearers brought home four golds, six silvers and nine bronzes, finishing 18th overall out of the 45 countries that took part in the event.
In his second term as the PSC head, Ramirez played a huge role in the government sports agency’s all-out support of the country’s drive in the 2021 Tokyo Olympic Games, resulting in the golden breakthrough of the Philippines courtesy of weightlifter Hidylin Diaz.
