THE head of the Senate Committee on Ways and Means, at Monday’s hearing on the Philippine Offshore Gaming Operators , vowed to dig deeper into the implementation of Philippine laws, including taxes collected from POGOs and the legal and regulatory compliance by the third-party auditor consortium tapped to determine the proper Gross Gaming Revenues of licensed POGOs.
Senator Sherwin Gatchalian, who is leading the Ways and Means inquiry, focused much of Monday’s hearing on the background and performance of third-party auditor consortium Global ComRCI, which was tapped by the Philippine Amusement and Gaming Corp. to verify proper Gross Gaming Revenues of licensed POGOs.
The senator said Global ComRCI has a P6-billion consultancy contract with PAGCOR to conduct a third-party audit on POGO finances, signed in 2017. Meanwhile, Gatchalian also asked Pagcor officials why POGO operators involved in crimes appear to have been allowed to continue operating in the country. Atty. Jessa Mariz Fernandez, Assistant Vice President for Pagcor’s Offshore Gaming Licensing Department, said they had already imposed penalties and demerits on erring POGO operators, with one company even slapped with a $10,000 fine.In the same hearing, Sen. Joseph Victor “JV” G.