Don't privatize Pagcor, just clean it of thieves

DIRT CHEAP: My simple mind cannot grasp the logic of Malacanang’s plan to sell the Philippine Amusement and Gaming Corp., which grosses at least P30 billion each year, for a measly P300 million in a one-time privatization transaction.

That is dirt cheap, even at P500 million! Who is the lucky buyer of the cash cow that reports a net profit of P17 billion each year — not to mention the millions more that are milked from it?

The reason given for the proposed privatization is that corruption has so sapped Pagcor that the government has been losing legitimate revenues while fast dealers in and outside the gambling house have been robbing it of untold millions.

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SOCIAL FUND: President Noynoy Aquino said it would be more practical to transfer the state casino empire to private owners and then collect more revenues from its professional operators.

Pagcor is the third biggest revenue-earner of the government, after the Internal Revenue and Customs bureaus. Direct government earnings come from taxes and contributions to beneficiaries specified in its charter, including the Office of the President.

The social fund of the President, much of it gathered from gambling proceeds, including the daily lotteries of the Philippine Charity Sweepstakes Office, is a gold mine hardly visited by state auditors much like intelligence funds.

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TIGHTEN CONTROLS: While lawyers and finance experts are studying the best privatization scheme for Pagcor, investigators are raking up records of former chairman Efraim Genuino and other officials to document alleged anomalous transactions and fund diversions.

Everything considered, my unsolicited advice is for the government to keep Pagcor as a money-maker, but clean up the system and install men of integrity — if there be any — to manage it like a choir of angels.

The government has a good thing going in Pagcor, purely on the matter of revenue. If the main problem is the unabated theft by the millions, the solution is not to sell it to a favored buyer, but to tighten controls.

First step is to kick out the thieves and prosecute them to the hilt.

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INTERCONNECTIVITY: At the Land Transportation Office, the hot topic is “interconnectivity projects” — which is good or bad depending on who is looking at it and from what direction.

Those who have seen the computerization of the operations of the LTO and related agencies and the resulting synergy hail it. But its critics, especially the contractors who did not get a piece of the action, denounce it as a failure and a source of graft.

Just what is interconnectivity? An infotech friend said it is “a set of protocols which allows an external system to communicate or connect with a database or system and access allowable information from that system.”

In case you do not understand that, all you have to remember is that interconnectivity opens up a database containing information to outside groups for access and possible retrieval of information. Data is thus made relevant and useful to a lot more people.

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U.S. SAMPLE: Our IT friend told us what we already know, that in the world of open and free flowing information, interconnectivity is crucial and vital to industries and various sectors.

In the United States, for instance, the Department of Motor Vehicles (the equivalent of our LTO) has a database of millions of motor vehicles and driver’s license holders throughout the country.

This rich store of data is open to, and used by, various government agencies. Samples of units interconnected with the DMV database are the Federal Bureau of Investigation and local police agencies.

With the click of a mouse or a push of a button, an FBI agent or law enforcer can download information about the motor vehicle of a driver’s license holder from anywhere in the US and use the information to arrest suspects and present evidence in court.

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FIXERS WIPED OUT: From way back, I understand this is the model envisioned by the LTO for its IT system — a database that can be accessed by government agencies and by the private sector for lawful use.

In the 1997 terms of reference for the LTO public bidding for its IT system, one objective was to “provide for the interconnectivity among the central, regional, district and field offices of LTO as well as the provision of interconnection for other government agencies as well as the private sector.”

The technology employed swept aside the syndicates and fixers preying on motorists who want to speed up the registration of their vehicles and the renewal of their driver’s license.

The syndicates that had infested the LTO for so long were suddenly made irrelevant by technology that minimized human intervention and eliminated opportunities for illegal activities.

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STRADCOM: Another sector enjoying the connectivity with LTO is the insurance business, especially those providing Comprehensive Third Party Liability insurance. The existence of fake insurance policies and policies issued to several vehicles came to an end.

To curb the problem, the LTO and the Department of Transportation and Communication instructed its IT provider, Stradcom Corp., to develop a solution. Stradcom did, using the data already set up in LTO with its assistance.

Stradcom’s involvement put out of business unscrupulous insurance agents who overcharge motor vehicle owners and sell fake insurance policies.

Other areas where high-tech interconnectivity curbed abuses are in the Private Emission Testing Center System. The LTO ordered emission testers to interconnect with its provider, Stradcom, to ensure that all certificates are electronically transmitted and verified by the system.

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