Criminal complaint filed against PAGCOR chair

The Philippine anti-corruption group, Anti-Trapo Movement (ATM), has filed a nine-page graft complaint with the Office of the Ombudsman against the Philippine Amusement and Gaming Corp. (PAGCOR) Chair and several other members of management for alleged violations of the Republic Act 3019 (Anti-Graft and Corrupt Practices Act) and RA 6713 (Code of Conduct and Ethical Standards for Public Officials and Employees).

The ATM claims exclusive authority to handle legal concerns regarding Government-owned and -controlled entities (GOCC’s) by the Office of the Government Corporate Counsel (OGCC) was conspired against and violated by PAGCOR chair Andrea Domingo when she disputed the validity of Aurora Pacific Economic Zone and Freeport of Apeco’s online gaming licensees and solicited the legal opinion of the Office of the Solicitor General , local publication PhilStar reports.

“With clear malice and intent to monopolize the online gaming business, Domingo and her cohorts sought another legal opinion, this time from the Office of the Solicitor General (OSG), which reversed the OGCC’s decision,” the complaint reads.

ATM founding chairman Leon Estrella Peralta, who initiated the filing, said Domingo “violated several executive orders designating the Office of the Government Corporate Counsel (OGCC) as the sole agency serving as the law office of all government-owned or controlled corporations and their subsidiaries, to gain monopolistic control over the online gaming industry”.

Peralta’s complaint describes Domingo’s action as a “form of forum shopping” saying she was “so desperately trying to move heaven and earth to the point of their wilful violation of the Constitution and the Law.”

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