By Gabriel Kim Leal
(May 10, 2025) – The Sandiganbayan has sentenced five former officials of the Philippine Amusement and Gaming Corp. (PAGCOR) to more than 100 years in prison for graft and malversation over the misuse of millions worth of funds.
In a 257-page decision released on Friday, the Sandiganbayan Third Division found former chairperson Efraim Genuino, former PAGCOR president Rafael Francisco, former senior vice president (SVP) Rene Figueroa, former SVP for corporate communications Edward King, and former assistant vice president for internal audit Valente Custodio guilty of five counts each of violating the Anti-Graft and Corrupt Practices Act.
“The prosecution evidence showed several irregularities in the release of public funds for Grand BIDA (Batang Iwas Droga) March, showing how the public funds had been improperly or irregularly disbursed,” said the decision penned by Associate Justice Ronald Moreno, as reported by Philstar.com.
The said event was held in Manila in 2009.
The case also revealed that several transactions by PAGCOR worth over P50 million between 2005 and 2009 were allegedly diverted to unauthorized expenses. These included buying promotional items and movie tickets for the movie “Baler” and funding activities for the BIDA Foundation, an organization founded by Genuino.
The court pointed out that these transactions bypassed the required public bidding and proper procurement processes.
“The services rendered by BIDA Production were available from other suppliers and were not considered highly specialized services. As such, PAGCOR should have observed the requirements of competitive bidding in procuring these services from BIDA Production,” said the decision.
It noted that for the graft charge, each was sentenced to six to 10 years in prison per count, which would add up to 30 to 50 years. The malversation charge carried heavier penalties: six to 11 years for one count, 10 to 17 years for two counts, and reclusion perpetua for two counts. These would total to 66 to 125 years.
However, the Sandiganbayan acquitted Genuino and his co-accused of 14 other graft charges and 15 malversation charges related to separate transactions.
(PM)
Our Privacy Commitment
TV5 Network Inc. values and respects your privacy. We are committed to safeguarding your personal data in compliance with Republic Act No. 10173 or the Data Privacy Act of 2012 and its implementing rules and regulations.
We have developed a Privacy Policy that adopts and observes appropriate standards for personal data protection. While our Privacy Policy sets out the general principles governing the collection, use, and disclosure of our users’ personal information, our Privacy Commitment seeks to inform you more about TV5’s privacy practices.
Why do we collect your personal information (as applicable)?
We may collect and maintain basic information about you as site user of TV5 sites for the following purposes:
Where do we get your personal information?
There are several ways we collect your personal information.
Information that you personally provided.
Most of the personal information we have are those that you have provided us when you:
Information we collect during your engagement with us
We also collect information as you use our products and services, like:
Information we collect from other sources
Other means of collection of information may be through:
When do we disclose personal information?
There may be instances when we are required to share the information you provided us. In such cases, we ensure that your personal information will be disclosed on a confidential manner, through secure channels and in compliance with the Data Privacy Act and other privacy laws.
We will never share, rent, or sell your personal information to third parties outside of TV5 except in special cases where you have given consent, and in cases described in our privacy policy.
In some instances, we may be required to disclose your personal information to our agents, subsidiaries, affiliates, business partners and other third-party agencies and service providers as part of our regular business operations and for the provision of our programs and services. This means we might share your information with our service providers, contractors, and professional advisers who help us provide our services.
How we protect your personal information
The integrity, confidentiality, and security of your information is important to us. We have implemented technical, organizational, and physical security measures that are designed to protect your information from unauthorized or fraudulent access, alteration, disclosure, misuse, and other unlawful activities.
We also put in effect the following safeguards:
TV5 will not collect, use, or disclose your personal information for any purpose other than the purpose that you may have given your consent for.
What are your choices?
We make sure that we have your consent to continue to collect, use, and disclose your personal information for the purposes that we have identified. We want you to know that you may object or withdraw your consent and/or edit your consent preferences at any time.
If you wish to have access to the personal information in our custody or if you think that the personal information you provided is incomplete, or otherwise inaccurate, you may get in touch with our Data Protection Officer through the contact details provided below. In some instances, we may request for supporting documents or proof before we effect requested changes.
Data Protection Officer
TV5 Network Inc.
Reliance corner Sheridan Streets
Mandaluyong City
tv5dataprivacy@tv5.com.ph
What happens when there are changes in our Policy?
From time to time, we may update our privacy policy and practices to comply with changes in applicable laws and regulatory requirements, adapt to new technologies and protocols, and align with the best practices of the industry.
You will be provided notices if the changes are significant and, if we are required by law, we will obtain your updated consent.