MANILA, Philippines – Senator Sherwin Gatchalian urged the Senate blue ribbon committee to look into the alleged anomalies hounding the third-party auditor tasked to examine accounts of Philippine offshore gaming operators (POGOs).

In a resolution filed on Monday, January 30, Gatchalian said the inquiry should seek to identify accountability after Global ComRCI, the company contracted by the Philippine Amusement and Gaming Corporation (Pagcor), seemed to have skirted procurement rules.

In hearings of the Senate ways and means committee led by Gatchalian, it was found that Pagcor entered into a P6-billion, 10-year contract with Global ComRCI, despite the company failing to meet the required operating capital of at least P1 billion.

The same inquiry also found that Global ComRCI does not have business permits from the city governments of Makati and Manila, where it supposedly held offices.

The Securities and Exchange Commission also said the company is not registered with the agency.

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Global ComRCI is responsible for reporting the correct gross gaming revenues of POGOs. Gatchalian earlier noted that inaccuracies led to leakages, including an underpayment of the 2% franchise fee and 5% gaming tax.

Pagcor contracted Global ComRCI for technical work in 2017, as online gambling was a relatively new industry and regulators supposedly did not have the infrastructure to monitor POGOs’ money flows.

Pagcor has been taking a beating in Senate hearings, unable to directly answer questions on POGO-related data and crimes tied to the industry, despite its goals of growing online gambling.

Pagcor’s efforts

In a statement on Wednesday, February 1, Pagcor said that since new management took over in August 2022, all contracts, including that of Global ComRCI, have been put under review.

“Pagcor’s new management is revalidating the veracity of the documents submitted by its third-party auditor, Global ComRCI. Should Pagcor be able to prove that the documents submitted were spurious, it will immediately take legal action and cancel the contract of its third-party auditor, if found warranted,” the agency said.

Pagcor also denounced POGO-related crimes and assured the public it would continue to monitor the “lawfulness of the activities of its accredited licensees and service providers.”

“Pagcor believes that while gaming operations – including offshore gaming – contribute significantly to government revenues, they must not be used as a vehicle for abuse and injustices.” – Rappler.com