PAGCOR Chairman Cristino "Bong" Naguiat Jr. (Photo by Sandee S. Masigan)

“The best thing about having another birthday is having more people to love.”

MANILA, Philippines —  Oftentimes, a “clear conscience” is actually a fuzzy memory.

This is the case of CJ Renato Corona who has been caught telling falsehoods about his SALN and hiding his bank accounts and properties until they were ferreted out. He still insists he has been “pre-judged,” has  a “clear conscience” and will disclose his accounts, pesos and dollars in “due time!”

Sometimes, the prosecution team frustrates me with their fumbles, but the defense infuriates me too with their “legalese” and arrogance. Oh, well, I was never good at watching fiercely intense sports matches. I get too emotionally involved. With the impeachment, of course I am squarely on the side of P-Noy’s call for honest truth in public service. Give us citizens a break! Resignation or conviction!

Now, I am on the soap box cheering for the Philippine Amusement and Gaming Corporation (PAGCOR) whose chair, Cristino “Bong” Naguiat, Jr., is hurting  over a malicious report which is presented as gospel truth in some international media sources and gleefully picked up by our local media.

You see, a huge gaming firm has sued its former vice chair and stakeholder and it seems the “collateral damage” of two corporate giants colliding is the PAGCOR’s chair, Bong Naguiat Jr. He is hurting with wild allegations of bribery thrown by the camp of the American partner to his Japanese ex-partner. Naguiat and his family are “accused” as having enjoyed “perks,” the gift of a Chanel bag and a stay in a  “villa” suite in Macau courtesy of the Japanese partner who happens to be the biggest ($2 billion) investor in the soon-to-rise Entertainment City in Manila.

Bong was invited to visit Macau, which he had not seen for the past 15 years, not only by the Japanese investor but also by other casino operators who wanted to show him what they had to offer as well. It’s an industry practice, which also goes for other businesses and even in media circles, I dare say, that the host shoulders everything. Had it been the other way around, if PAGCOR had issued the invitations, they would have picked up all the expenses here.

So Bong got a big suite for VIPs and yes, “high rollers”or big-time players. The next three days and nights were filled with working meetings with only one dinner with the Japanese investor. Then his wife, Tet, and their three children with their trusted manang followed on a Friday, paying for their own plane fares! The suite is big, so the Naguiats chose not to book another room on their host’s tab and they all stayed together. This is very natural with the family. Even in their modest home in Quezon City, the Naguiats stay in the master’s bedroom – Bong, Tet and the three youngsters – where they watch home movies and television together, oftentimes eating in too. The Naguiats went home after two days.

As for the Chanel bag supposed to have been a “gift” for Tet, yes, there was one, but it was promptly returned by Bong, even before his wife arrived. This was not noted at all in the media reports, but in the report of the “investigation” of bribery, it is there in fine print as “returned!” There was even supposed to have been a $20,000 “credit line” for Naguiat who had no knowledge of it until Bong read it as a straight news item.

So why am I clarifying this “mis -story”? Because it’s unfair and years ago, this type of malicious story happened to me and my family. Only months after I was appointed Assistant Secretary for Media by then president Cory, it was headlined in a tabloid that I was enjoying the perks of my position. The story said that I got rich overnight and even brought my entire family with my children’s nanny to Hongkong!

Yes, we indeed went to HK with the entire brood, some THREE YEARS EVEN BEFORE I joined government! My late husband then was a successful private businessman, but of course no one asked us for facts. So you see, before believing news stories about celebrities or government people, even headlines, ask first!

So back to PAGCOR’s fantastic performance under the soft-spoken, prudent-spending Naguiat.  It ushered in 2012 with an impressive R600 million growth in its January gross income compared to the same month last year.  It never turned over that much money to the national coffers under the past management, so this is great news indeed! And it is not the first time either!

“We earned a R3.36 billion gross income last month. This was better by almost 22% compared to our January 2011 income of R2.76 billion,” announced PAGCOR’s Chairman and CEO.

PAGCOR’s substantial income growth for January 2012 was brought about by the buoyant performance of its own gaming operations. “Our casinos, arcades and in-house bingo operations yielded a R505 million or 26% income growth compared to the same month last year. We also surpassed the January 2012 gaming income target of R2.38 billion operations by 3.07%,” Naguiat noted.

This financial feat can be attributed to the continuous increase in the Corporation’s revenue to the improved gaming mix in its casinos and the enhanced marketing and gaming offerings of the state-owned casinos nationwide. In other words, the income does not go into the pockets of the officials nor to promote certain individuals’ election campaigns.

Apart from sourcing revenues from its own gaming operations, PAGCOR also generated R907 million from other income sources such as its income share from the operations of licensed casinos, e-games, poker and commercial bingo. “Our January 2012 share from this these other sources was 11.77% or R95.5 million better than the share PAGCOR received in January 2011,” Naguiat added.

The higher revenues last January translated to PAGCOR’s bigger contributions to nation-building. “Out of our R3.36 billion gross revenues for the month in review, we were able to allocate a total of R1.89 billion for our mandated beneficiaries. This was higher by R613 million compared to the R1.28 billion contributions to nation-building we made in the same month of 2011,” the PAGCOR Chief noted.

“Of the P1.89 billion contributions to nation-building, R1.16 billion went directly to the National Treasury as government share. We also remitted a total of R122 million to the BIR as franchise tax,” Naguiat added.                    

Other contributions made by PAGCOR last January 2012 are R58.27 million to the Philippine Sports Commission (PSC); R40.84 million to cities hosting PAGCOR casinos; R201 million to the President’s Social Fund; R305 million in support of various socio-civic projects; R1.29 million to victims of injustice through the Board of Claims; and R2.50 million as PAGCOR’s contribution to Special Laws.

Apart from its mandatory contributions, PAGCOR also recently remitted R1 billion to the National Treasury through the Department of Finance. “PAGCOR became part of the Billionaires Club that remitted at least a billion to the National Treasury. Our billion peso remittance represents the dividends generated from PAGCOR’s net income last year. It is actually the first time in history that PAGCOR remitted a dividend to the national government,” Naguiat said.

PAGCOR is targeting to generate a little over R45 billion in total income this year. “That will be about 22% higher than our record-breaking income performance of R36.65 billion in 2011. We are optimistic that we are going to hit this target given the optimism prevailing not only in the Philippine gaming market but in the Asian gaming industry as well.”

Also…before we end, I want to greet Leap Year celebrants Gypsy Baldovino and Doña Bea Zobel, and early March-borns like my high school classmate, Beth Javier Africa, March 3, then my colleague, Joanne Ramirez on the 4th.