4 Pagcor contracts illegal - lawmaker

MANILA, Philippines - The previous leadership of the Philippine Gaming and Amusement Corp.(Pagcor) has awarded contracts to four groups of companies to develop the $5-billion Pagcor City in Paranaque without the benefit of public bidding, Eastern Samar Rep. Ben Evardone said Tuesday.

He said the new chairman of Pagcor, Cristino Naguiat Jr., admitted in a hearing of the House committee on games and amusement that Pagcor awarded the contracts without public bidding.

He said Naguiat himself identified the locators as Travellers International Hotel Group, Tiger Resorts, Leisure and Entertainment Group, Inc., and Bloombury Investments.

“If there was no public bidding, then it means that the previous Pagcor leadership violated the Procurement Law in awarding the contracts. That necessarily means that these contracts are illegal,” he stressed.

He pointed out that based on Naguiat’s answers, not even the so-called Swiss challenge was employed.

“A Swiss challenge is an internationally-accepted scheme where a project proposal is opened to counter proposals to enable the government to secure the most favorable terms,” Evardone said.

“Why do away with public bidding when such contracts demand no less because of the huge amounts involved? I think the public deserves to know,” the former journalist said.

Naguiat told the game and amusement committee chaired by Manila Rep. Amado Bagatsing that he would review the Pagcor City contracts.

He promised to inform the committee of the results of his review and to submit the contracts, the terms of reference and other pertinent documents.

“The new Pagcor leadership owes it to the people to explain what it has discovered and what steps it is taking to protect the interest of the government,” Evardone said.

He revealed that he received information that the locators were given huge tax breaks and other privileges.

He said Naguiat should take it upon himself to rectify the error committed by the previous Pagcor leadership to protect not only the interest of the government but that of its locators as well.

If the error is not corrected this early, the contractors will eventually be at the losing end when the issue is brought to the courts, he said.

The Pagcor City, also known as Bagong Nayong Pilipino Entertainment City, sits on a 155-hectare land reclaimed by the Paranaque City government out of the Manila Bay. It is envisioned to be a Las Vegas-style gaming and entertainment complex comparable to the best in the world.

Pagcor is the third largest revenue contributor to the national government after the Bureau of Internal Revenue and Bureau of Customs. It earned P30 billion in 2009.

The Aquino administration has plans to sell Pagcor. According to San Miguel Corp. president Ramon Ang, the gaming firm is worth at least $10 billion, and that he would organize a group of investors to make an offer if the government sells it.