MANILA — An official of the Philippine Southeast Asian Games Organizing Committee (PHISGOC) has denied allegation of the corruption as it will continue to oversee the country’s preparation for the hosting of the 30th SEA Games which will be held from November 30 to December 11 this year.
Philippine Sports Commission (PSC) chairman and PHISGOC co-vice chairperson William Ramirez made this clarification after he and PHISGOC chairman Alan Peter Cayetano met with Senator Bong Go and Executive Secretary Salvador Medialdea on July 18.
“There is no truth to the allegation of corruption,” Ramirez said in a statement, noting that all concerned units are now "united in one leadership."
"Alan Peter Cayetano and myself sat down with Sen. Bong Go and Executive Secretary Salvador Medialdea to sort out issues being reported by news outfits in the past days,” he added.
The PHISGOC officials met with Go and Medialdea days after Malacañang confirmed that Duterte wanted to give the organizing responsibilities of the 2019 SEA Games to the government due to alleged corruption in PHISGOC.
PHISGOC is accused of entering into questionable deals, including the alleged overpriced training uniforms with sports apparel company Asics.
“We assure the athletes and the general public that all decisions and transactions will be done with utmost transparency," Ramirez said.
"The PSC, through the guidance of the Department of Budget Management and assistance of the Procurement Service shall work together to ensure that public funds are protected and that all disbursements or expenses follow existing government rules and laws,” he added.
PHISGOC executive director Ramon Suzara earlier said all the acts of PHISGOC are duly authorized by its board and executive committee where both the PSC and Philippine Olympic Committee (POC) are well represented.
“Thus, all acts of the PHISGOC are duly authorized by its board and executive committee where both the POC and PSC are represented. With their inclusion in the board and even the management committees, the POC and PSC are able to exercise control and supervision over all transactions of the PHISGOC,” Suzara said. (PR)
