I do not personally know Partylist Rep. Neri Javier Colmenares. I never met him, but only seen him on television hogging the limelight. He recently accused the PCSO’s past administration re “a P20-billion anomaly sa PCSO iniwan ng Arroyo Administration,” Abante Tonite, May 31, 2011, by-lined by Bernard Taguinod. Mahirap himayin ang mga sabog na akusasyon ni Colmenares. Kung sino man ang nagbigay ng impormasyon sa kanya ay may depekto ang kaisipan. May mentally retarded sa Office of the Chairman ngayon na posibleng nagbigay ng mga datos sa peryodiko.
It’s all garbage. What Colmenares got. That makes him a basurero!
Squid tactic is what the PCSO now is trying so hard to do for the simple reason that now PCSO Chairman Margie Juico wants to hold on to her position. She’d do anything and step on anyone just to hold on to power. Her strategy is to confuse the enemies.
By doing so, she’d appear as if she is doing her job, sending the message that the PCSO needs her. In the process, she does not mind who she steps on for as long as she retains her position. For those who know Margie Juico well would immediately see through her.
I wish I could tackle all the issues spewed by Colmenares, point by point. But many of them are better answered by the past chairman and the past general manager, for as I was only one of the directors from 2004 to 2010. I was not part of management.
I was part of the board, the policy- making body, and I can only help explain what I personally know about.
The lotto gaming was introduced in the Philippines in 1993. Several international system suppliers entered the bidding. Out of the four, Philippine Gaming and Management Corp.won it. The bidding process was conducted before my time, during the chairmanship of Dr. Mita Pardo de Tavera. I was appointed by President Ramos PCSO chairman after her, in January of 1994.
The Kilosbayan headed by former Senator Jovito Salonga lodged a case in the Supreme Court against the lotto. Sa panahon ko ‘yan bumagsak. For almost a year and a half, the case continued in the SC until the PCSO finally won it in 1995. However, we had to follow the SC’s decision for the PCSO to enter a lease contract without the PCSO having to buy the machines which involved billions of pesos. Samakatuwid, the system supplier, PGMC, spent for the setting up of the lotto system without the PCSO having to dish out a single peso.
It’s the best contract and arrangement, for, otherwise, the PCSO would have had to gamble billions of pesos without knowing whether or not the lotto would be successful. It was too big a risk to take had we bought the machines.
The Philippines had no such technology. Servicing the machines if they broke down would have given the PCSO a big problem. Not only that, it involved intellectual property rights which PGMC owned. Our staff chosen to man the lotto had to undergo training.
All told, it was the best arrangement the PCSO could get into without having to put up a single centavo. It is also a fact that after a few years, the machines age and become obsolete. Had the PCSO bought the machines, it would have to spend billions of pesos to replace or upgrade them as new computer technology comes out in the market.
Whoever told Colmenares na it could have cost the PCSO P25 million (only) had it bought the machines? Baka inakala ni Colmenares na sa distrito lang ng Quiapo ilalagay ang lotto. Nationwide ito.
Alamin nga niya kung magkano ang isang makina. Alamin nga niya kung magkano ang suweldo ng mga technicians ng lotto based in the Philippines to oversee the lotto system. How about the Main Computer Center costing millions?
And whose intellectual property rights are we going to use in the Philippines? Baka naman ang gustong pasukan ni Margie Juico ay computer machines like Smartmatic which are not tamper-proof.
Hindi ‘yan laruan. Magtanong siya sa ibang bansa kung magkano umaabot to put up the lotto system sa isang bansa. Bear in mind na itong arrangement between PCSO and PGMC ang pumasa sa Korte Suprema. At ito dapat ang ginaya ng Comelec that spent billions just to use the machines for one day. Bakit hindi na lang ni-rent at nasisira ‘yang mga computers kapag itinago sa bodega. At paglipas ng ilang taon, obsolete na. Bibili na naman ng bagong mga machines, again costing billions.
Sa kontrata ng PCSO at PGMC, nag-umpisa lang sa 4.9-percent lease/rental. Pero nalugi ang PGMC. Noong wala na ako sa PCSO, nag-appeal taasan at tayo ang pinakamababa sa buong mundo. Pero sinakop nila ang telecommunication installation as well. Sa England, 16 percent ang ibinabayad sa lease-rental ng system provider. Iba’t-iba ang ibinabayad sa mga bansa sa mundo. Ang pagkaalam ko, nine percent ang pinakamababa sa mahal ng mag-set-up at magpatakbo ng lotto system. Very complicated to run it. It’s tamper-proof. It’s state of the art that we are unable to match. ‘Yong ginamit ng Smartmatic-TIM nga ay pinaka-simple compared to the lotto machines, kaya nagka leche-leche. Di ba that cost the Comelec almost P10 billion just for that election day lamang? How can Colmenares say those stupid things. Hindi lang siya ng “Bayan Muna” ang marunong magmahal sa bayan. Bark again! Sino siya to question the Supreme Court decision? It all happened during my time as PCSO Chairman. I fought a tough battle. I know what I went through. Where was Colmenares when all this was happening? While I was put in the hot seat, he most probably was in a massage parlor. Why did Margie Juico make noise about the thermal paper supply? Is it because she unilaterally cancelled a valid contract between the PCSO and TMA of Australia that won the international bidding to set up the plant in PEZA, the Free Trade zone in Laguna? It is a technology we do not have in the country. It would be the first of its kind.
The Australian firm sued PCSO Chairman Juico and the four directors in the RTC Makati and won the case, commanding the PCSO to immediately resume the implementation of the joint venture.
Wala ni pisong ilalabas ang PCSO sa joint partnership na ito, but to buy from them the thermal paper tickets for the lotto. Sa hiya at napahiya si Margie Juico sa pagkatalo sa korte, nag “expose” siya at ginamit ang privilege hour ni Colmenares sa Congress. Ginamit lamang siya ni Margie Juico, at nagpagamit naman.
I’ll have more on this in my next column.
