Senator Leila de Lima on Friday urged Congress to conduct a deeper probe into the alleged irregularities that marred the Philippines’ hosting of the 30th 2019 Southeast Asian (SEA) Games particularly the issue on the Philippine SEA Games Organizing Committee’s (PHISGOC) P387-million debt to the suppliers.
(MANILA BULLETIN FILE PHOTO)
De Lima said it is high time that the Senate starts hearing Senate Resolution No. 274 that she filed last year, and investigate the alleged organizational and administrative problems which affected the biennial sports meet.
The resolution, which she filed in December of last year, remains pending before the Senate Blue Ribbon Committee chaired by Sen. Richard Gordon.
“Roughly one year after the country’s hosting of the SEA games, which was marred with problems and irregularities that remain unaddressed, we are presented with another issue – this time the P387-million debt to suppliers mobilized for the country’s hosting of the 30th SEA Games,” De Lima said.
De Lima pointed out that the SEA Games organizing committee was able to allocate an exorbitant amount during the opening of the biennial sports meet, but apparently does not have the budget to settle its payables.
“Bakit naman ganun? Hindi dapat pinapalampas ang ganitong pangyayari. Dapat imbestigahan ito para matukoy kung may naganap na hokus-pokus sa pondo ng bayan, (Why did that happen? We shouldn’t let this kind of thing happen. We ought to investigate this to know what happened to the funds),’” she added.
The issue on the P387-million cropped up during the Senate Finance subcommittee hearing on the Philippine Sports Commission’s (PSC) proposed P208-million budget for 2021.
PSC Executive Director Guillermo Iroy Jr. told senators that the PHISGOC, chaired by House Speaker Alan Peter Cayetano, has incurred P387-million debt to suppliers, including operators of passenger vans.
According to Iroy, PHISGOC had asked the PSC to request the Department of Budget and Management (DBM) to release additional funds to settle PHISGOC’s debts.
The former justice secretary said an inquiry on the concluded SEA Games is necessary not only to ensure that suppliers and small businesses will be paid, but also to prevent even greater problems in the country's sports programs in the future.
“We need to ensure that support and funding are given to the agencies that have proper mandate, and that accountability lies even with private organizations, especially those who have access to government resources. We cannot let this happen again,” De Lima said.