Palace: Don't prejudge probe on Naguiat

MANILA, Philippines - Malacañang appealed yesterday to the public not to prejudge the investigation into the controversy involving Philippine Amusement and Gaming Corp. (Pagcor) chief Cristino Naguiat Jr.

President Aquino ordered the probe into the alleged bribery of Naguiat as claimed by an American casino operator who is at odds with his Japanese partner.

Deputy presidential spokesperson Abigail Valte said over radio dzRB it would be up to Naguiat to decide whether he would take a leave of absence while the Cabinet-level group formed by the President is looking into his case.

“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, he said, 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 that the Pagcor chief was only a victim in the war between casino giant American Steve Wynn and his Japanese partner Kazuo Okada.

Wynn claimed Okada 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 branded as “outrageous, politically motivated and untrue” the bribery allegations against him.

But the President said he would undergo a “process” and insisted that he already imposed sanctions on members of his Cabinet who were 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, the President said.

“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,” he stressed.