Coseteng vows more raps vs Pagcor, swim group executives

MANILA, Philippines - Former senator Nikki Coseteng vowed yesterday to file more charges against officials of the Philippine Amusement Gaming Corp. (Pagcor) and Philippine Amateur Swimming Association (PASA) for alleged misuse of funds and discrimination against local swimmers.

“We are now building up new cases for additional charges to be filed at the Office of the Ombudsman,” she told reporters during the weekly Rembrandt news forum in Quezon City.

Coseteng, together with athletes, coaches and swimming enthusiasts, earlier filed  graft, money laundering and other charges against former Pagcor chairman Efraim Genuino and PASA president Mark Joseph.

She said among the new charges her group is looking into is the alleged discrimination of local swimmers in international competition in favor of Filipino-American swimmers.

She said Fil-Ams were reportedly given $3,000 allowance while local swimmers were made to pay all the expenses if they participate in international competitions. Despite the allowance, the Fil-Ams scored poorly, according to Coseteng.

Coseteng said PASA also cut down potential Olympic swimmers just because they were not PASA members. She cited a case in Australia four years ago, when a Filipino swimmer was stripped of her silver medal after PASA told tournament officials she was not the official representative of the Philippines.

In another competition, she said a swim team from the Philippines was not recognized by PASA. The team was adopted by the North Borneo team, and all the scores they earned were credited to North Borneo.