Enrile wants PCSO equipment lease probed

Senate President Juan Ponce Enrile on Wednesday asked the Senate blue ribbon committee to investigate the allegedly disadvantageous equipment lease agreement entered into by the Philippine Charity Sweepstakes Office with a Malaysian-owned company. During the day's hearing, Enrile said he has information that the PCSO has been operating under a lease agreement with Philippine Gaming Management Corporation (PGMC) since 1995. "There are many questions that are going to flow from this agreement," he said. The PGMC, which started commercial operations in 1995, is involved in the leasing of online lottery equipment and software support. Its principal company is Berjaya Sports Toto Berhad of Malaysia. Enrile specifically asked why the PCSO continued to avail of PGMC's services even after their eight-year lease had expired. "When the lease agreement terminated on the eighth year, was there a re-bidding of program when you extended it if it was extended? There's no provision in the contract which allows the contract to be extended," he said. He likewise asked the PCSO why it did not exercise the right to buy the system, which they supposedly rent for P1.6 billion yearly, for only P25 million as allowed by the contract after the lease expired. "PCSO did not exercise the option to purchase this system... it is written in the contract," he said. He also asked the PCSO to submit a report on how much money the charity fund has paid the leasing firm. PCSO chair Margarita Juico, however, said that they did not have the data on hand but promised to submit it to Enrile's office after the hearing. PCSO board member Atty. Aleta Tolentino, for her part, said that their records indicate that the lease contract ran from the time the first lotto terminals were delivered. She noted, however, that they still have to determine when the first terminals were delivered. She likewise said that the contract was amended in 1997 to indicate that they were leasing 1,250 terminals instead of only 350. "In effect it will extend the term of the lease," she said, adding that no re-biddings were conducted and that the contract with PGMC was amended a third time in 2004. Enrile asked the PCSO to submit a full history of the arrangement with the firm. The Senate blue ribbon committee is expected to resume its inquiry on the alleged anomalies in the charity fund on Thursday. - KBK, GMA News