Go willing to probe alleged PHISGOC corruption in hosting 2019 SEA Games

Senate committee on sports chairperson Christopher "Bong" Go on Monday said he is ready to investigate alleged corruption at the Philippine Southeast Asian Games Organizing Committee (PHISGOC) when the country hosted the 2019 Southeast Asian Games.

"Kung merong magsasampa ng reklamo o resolution sa Senado, handa po tayo at hindi ako mag-aatubiling isagawa ang parallel investigation on the allegations against PHISGOC, on top of what the Ombudsman and the House of Representatives are doing now," Go said in a statement.

"Ang importante naman po ay malaman ng taumbayan ang katotohanan. Nagsabi naman po ang PHISGOC, PSC [Philippine Sports Commission], POC [Philippine Olympic Committee] at iba pang nag-organisa ng hosting natin noong 2019 Southeast Asian Games na handa silang sagutin ang mga alegasyon laban sa kanila," he added.

Former House Speaker Alan Peter Cayetano was the chairman of the PHISGOC, the private foundation that supervised all the preparations of the country's hosting of the 30th SEA Games last year.

Go gave the statement on the heels of the call made by several members of the POC Executive Board earlier this month that PHISGOC submit the audited financial statements involving the 2019 SEA Games.

The senator said he has also reached out to the Department of Budget and Management to pay the PSC and PHISGOC's unsettled debts to the suppliers who participated during the hosting of the biennial sports meet.

"Ibigay na kaagad dahil ayaw natin na ang mga ordinaryong Pilipino ang pumapasan sa kakulangan ng iilan na makapagbayad on time," he said. "Aksyunan na natin ang mga naiwang mga obligasyon at tuldukan na ang mga isyu na konektado rito.

Earlier this month, the PSC revealed that it still owes around P387million to the 2019 SEA Games suppliers. — BM, GMA News