Joseph, former PSC chief Ramirez deny ‘collusion’

MANILA—The swimming group opposed to the leadership of the Philippine Aquatic Sports Association (Pasa) yesterday said they have the evidence to prove the charges of graft and corruption they filed against swimming chief Mark Joseph, former Philippine Sports Commission chair William “Butch” Ramirez and former officials of the Philippine Amusement and Gaming Corp. (Pagcor).

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Joseph denied any wrongdoing in an interview with the Inquirer yesterday while Ramirez washed his hands off the case, saying his involvement in an agreement that allowed Pagcor to transfer over P30 million directly to

the Pasa was “purely ministerial.”

Included as the accused in the charge sheet filed by former Sen. Nikki Coseteng, swimmers and their parents were past Pagcor board officials headed by former chair Efraim Genuino.

Coseteng, a key supporter of the Philippine Swimming League headed by former national swimmer Susan Papa, filed the case before the Office of the Ombudsman in the morning.

Papa’s league is seeking the ouster of Joseph as Pasa chief.

“I haven’t seen any of the case documents, so I don’t really know what to comment on,” said Joseph. “All I know is that our purpose has always been for the benefit of our aquatic sports.”

The heart of Coseteng’s allegations lies in an August 2007 agreement between Pagcor and the PSC, then under Ramirez, that allowed the Pasa to withdraw funds directly from Pagcor, chargeable to the 5 percent of Pagcor’s gross income that it is required to remit to the government sports agency.

Aside from allegedly violating Section 26 of Republic Act 6847—that says only the PSC can disburse funds to national sports associations (NSAs) like Pasa— Joseph is also being accused of failing to liquidate public funds and of acting as a “laundering machine” for Genuino.

A huge part of the funds Pasa received from Pagcor was used to pay Trace Aquatic Colleges in Los Baños, Laguna, for the training and board and lodging of the national athletes.

Trace is controlled by the Genuino family and the former Pagcor chief once served as a member and president of its board of trustees.

Genuino’s wife, who once served as chair of Trace, owns at least 48.5 percent of the facility’s equity, according to Coseteng.

Joseph, however, said the funds were used for the athletes.

“None of us personally benefited in any way from those funds,” said Joseph. “Over the past years, we have not received any negative reports or disallowances from the COA (Commission on Audit).”

Ironically, it was the COA that wrote Pagcor in January last year that “there was no basis or authority for Pagcor to release funds directly to Pasa.”

The COA also ruled that “the liquidation report submitted by Pagcor was not signed/approved by Pasa officials” and that the “disbursements worth over P30 million were not properly supported by documents.”
Ramirez, meanwhile, said he only played a minor role in the deal.

Coseteng’s group alleged that it was Ramirez’s signature as PSC chief in an Aug. 1 2007 authorization that Pagcor used “as basis for the unlawful and fraudulent disbursements to the Pasa.”

“I [can’t] remember [the agreement],” said Ramirez, who is now a sports and education consultant for Davao City. “But if ever I signed a deal with Pagcor, my participation was purely ministerial. It was an all-Pagcor show.

“All financial requests went through the board for approval,” Ramirez added. “Such amount was never granted to an NSA during my term. A million pesos was so far the biggest assistance to an NSA that the board approved as far as I can remember.”

Former PSC chair Harry Angping cut Pagcor’s direct financial assistance to the Pasa in 2009, when he took over the sports agency.