Go urges Phisgoc to spend fund properly

MANILA, Philippines — Sen. Christopher “Bong” Go asked yesterday organizers of the 30th Southeast Asian Games to ensure transparency and accountability in the spending of the P15-billion budget for the country’s hosting of the games.

Before the Senate approved 2020 budget of the Philippine Sports Commission (PSC) on Tuesday, Go let Speaker Alan Peter Cayetano clear pressing issues related to the hosting of the SEA Games from Nov. 30 to Dec. 11.

The senator said he will not tolerate corruption in the handling of the games.

“If there is any whiff of corruption in our sports bodies, I, as chairman of the Senate committee on sports, will lead the investigation,” he said.

Cayetano, as chair of the Philippine Southeast Asian Games Organizing Committee (PHISGOC), was given the chance to answer questions related to the organizing committee after the Senate suspended its rules so that resource persons may speak in the plenary.

Go earlier argued that he cannot respond on behalf of PHISGOC since it is not within the scope of his mandate as sponsor of the proposed PSC budget for 2020. However, to address the concerns of fellow senators, he suggested that it would be proper to address the questions directly to the organizing committee for the purpose of upholding transparency and accountability to the public.