Senate committee on sports chairperson Bong Go is ready to investigate the Philippine Southeast Asian Games Organizing Committee (PHISGOC) over allegations of corruption in the country’s hosting of the last 2019 Southeast Asian Games.
“Kung merong magsasampa ng reklamo o resolution sa Senado, handa po tayo at hindi ako mag-aatubiling isagawa ang parallel investigation on the allegations against PHISGOC, on top of what the Ombudsman and the House of Representatives are doing now,” Go said,
“Ang importante naman po ay malaman ng taumbayan ang katotohanan. Nagsabi naman po ang PHISGOC, PSC [Philippine Sports Commission], POC [Philippine Olympic Committee] at iba pang nag-organisa ng hosting natin noong 2019 Southeast Asian Games na handa silang sagutin ang mga alegasyon laban sa kanila,” Bong Go.
Former Speaker Alan Peter Cayetano served as chairman of PHISGOC, a private foundation that oversees the preparations for hosting the 30th SEA Games held in 2019.
Go made the statement in response to a call by some members of the POC Executive Board recently for PHISGOC to submit the audited financial statement of the 2019 SEA Games.
Also read: PSC still owes P387-M to SEA Games suppliers
Bong Go ready to probe PHISGOC over alleged SEA Games anomalies
According to Bong Go, he also asked the Department of Budget and Management to pay the PSC and PHISGOC obligations to the suppliers involved in hosting the game.
“Ibigay na kaagad dahil ayaw natin na ang mga ordinaryong Pilipino ang pumapasan sa kakulangan ng iilan na makapagbayad on time,” Go said. “Aksyunan na natin ang mga naiwang mga obligasyon at tuldukan na ang mga isyu na konektado rito.
(PSC) earlier revealed it still owed P387 million to suppliers when it hosted the Southeast Asian Games in 2019.
During the commission’s hearing on its 2021 budget, PSC Executive Director Guillermo Iroy said they already asked the Department of Budget and Management (DBM) for the amount they are already receiving “too many” demand letters from various suppliers.
He added that PSC would then remit it to PHISGOC, which signed the contracts with the suppliers once the budget is released. PSC is PHISGOC’s guarantor, Iroy said.