MANILA, Philippines - President Aquino yesterday defended Philippine Amusement and Gaming Corp. (Pagcor) chairman and chief executive officer Cristino Naguiat Jr. on bribery allegations by an American casino operator at odds with his Japanese partner.
“There is a presumption of innocence unless proven guilty, so in this particular instance, we should afford him also the benefit of hearing him out before we make any judgment,” Aquino said of his former classmate at the Ateneo de Manila University.
This constitutional presumption, according to Aquino, is also being applied to Chief Justice Renato Corona, despite his obvious displeasure at the chief magistrate.
In taking up the cudgels for Naguiat, Aquino hinted the Pagcor chief was only a victim in a war between casino giants, American Steve Wynn and his Japanese partner Kazuo Okada, who reportedly gave a total of $110,000 in perks to Naguiat.
“There is very massive money involved by two major players in the gaming industry who have suddenly fallen out with each other,” Aquino said.
Naguiat yesterday branded as “outrageous, politically motivated and untrue” the bribery allegations against him.
Naguiat said the lawsuit filed by Wynn Resorts Ltd. against one of its former members of the board, Japanese businessman Okada, “is a business dispute into which I have been dragged.”
Naguiat stressed that he will “not be distracted by this issue” and will remain focused on doing his job to turn Pagcor into one of the major contributors of revenue to the Philippine government and people.
“The facts are that I and a group of Pagcor officials, with approval of Pagcor’s board, visited Macau in September 2010 to meet with key gaming industry players and examine their operations. The then vice chairman of Wynn Resorts, Mr. Okada, invited the group to meet with executives of Wynn Macau and stay at their resort in VIP quarters, compliments of Wynn Macau.
Also yesterday, Aquino said he is bent on designating Executive Secretary Paquito Ochoa Jr. as the head of the committee that will conduct the investigation and give the Pagcor chief a fair trial, where he can answer the allegations and defend himself.
“I will probably task the executive secretary to head the committee,” he said.
Aquino insisted that he already imposed sanctions on members of his Cabinet who have been found to be remiss or were guilty of administrative offenses.
“There is a formal process where he will be asked to explain. Let’s look for specific accusations first then we will task him to explain with regard to the specific accusations. The committee will determine whether or not there is an issue,” he said.
Nobody is exempted from administrative proceedings or sanctions in his Cabinet.
“Anybody who has been proven to have done something, or they shouldn’t have done or neglected to do something that they should, have been meted appropriate sanctions,” Aquino stressed.
“The least that chairman Naguiat should be able to expect is he gets a fair hearing. Let’s have the allegations (first), let him answer it, then we will weigh the allegations versus his defense of actions or lack of actions,” the President stressed.
Chanel bag
“I only learned of the supposed $20,000 cash advance from Wynn Macau from media reports. Subsequent inquiries by Pagcor revealed the advance was drawn by Mr. Masato Araki, a business associate of Mr. Okada’s at the time,” Naguiat said in a statement.
“I found out about the reported $5,000 credit allocation from the Freeh report. The Pagcor delegation was never aware of any such allotment, nor was any offer or request made during the trip,” Naguiat said.
He added the expensive Chanel bag given to his wife as a gift by Wynn Macau was returned immediately.
“The much commented upon Chanel bag was left in my room as a gift and on seeing it, I had it immediately returned. The reported $1,673 dinner that was paid for by Wynn Macau included not just the Pagcor delegation but a number of business associates of Mr. Okada who were meeting with Pagcor at the time. I know nothing about the reported $110,000 in ‘payments’ supposedly made to Philippine regulators since 2008 and certainly did not receive any such ‘payments’,” he said.
Naguiat stressed Okada’s license to operate in the Pagcor Entertainment City was approved by the previous management of the state-gaming firm, thus there was no need to bribe its present officials.
“At the time of our visit, Mr. Okada’s Philippine gaming license had already been approved by the prior Pagcor management. Any insinuation that the complimentary accommodations extended to me and my family, who subsequently joined me for the weekend, was a bribe is untrue and just plain wrong,” Naguiat said in a statement.
“On assuming the chairmanship of Pagcor in 2010, I ordered a review of all licenses granted by the previous administration to determine whether they complied with existing laws and regulations. The result of the review was stricter compliance with guidelines to the benefit of Pagcor and the Philippine government,” he said.
Naguiat said Pagcor under his leadership was able to remit P1 billion to the National Treasury through the Department of Finance, representing dividends generated for the agency’s 2011 net income.
He added Pagcor has achieved six record-breaking monthly earnings, the first such accomplishment in the gaming firm’s 25-year history.
Naguiat said Pagcor also increased its total revenues in 2011 by P5.19 billion or 16.52 percent higher than the P31.46 billion generated in 2010.
The agency also posted an increase in gross income in January 2012 by P600 million compared to the same month in 2011, increasing its funding to beneficiaries by P613 million from January 2011 to a total of P5.19 billion in January 2012.
Naguiat said Pagcor has earmarked P1 billion for the “Matuwid na Daan sa Silid-Aralan” project for the construction of 1,000 new classrooms and 100 learning centers for kindergarten students and out-of-school youths nationwide, and gave P100 million in initial funding to the “Pnoy Bayanihan” project which intends to manufacture thousands of school desks out of confiscated logs. The desks are being donated to public schools all over the country.
“I have done nothing wrong and have not violated any laws. My focus is on doing my job – fulfilling Pagcor’s mission to provide world-class gaming for Filipinos and tourists in an honest, regulated environment and to contribute significant revenues to help build the Philippine nation. I will not be distracted from the mission by an internal company dispute. I am what I have always been since the start of my chairmanship – a public servant, nothing more and nothing less,” Naguiat said.
Vice President Jejomar Binay also defended Naguiat.
“Chairman Naguiat is the unfortunate casualty of a corporate war. He has already refuted the allegations made by one party in the dispute,” Binay said. – With Delon Porcalla, Jose Rodel Clapano, Evelyn Macairan