Officials of the Billiards and Snooker Congress of the Philippines are facing charges of malversation of funds allegedly committed when they hosted the World Pool Championship two years ago.
The Billiards Managers and Players Association of the Philippines Thursday filed a petition before the Ombudsman to determine whether public funds were technically misappropriated when the Philippine Amusement and Gaming Corp. (Pagcor) financially supported the staging in 2006 and 2007 of the WPC, which was organized by the BSCP and Raya Sports.
The BMPAP said there was conflict of interest when BSCP and Raya Sports, the private firm responsible for marketing the WPC, solicited public funds intended for the biggest nine-ball competition in the world.
BSCP chair and Raya Sports president Florentino “Yen” Makabenta said he hasn’t heard about the complaint and would issue a statement as soon as his lawyers get a copy of BMPAP’s petition.
“We need a copy of the complaint. We can’t react without it,” Makabenta told the Philippine Daily Inquirer (parent company of INQUIRER.net).
Cue artist Roberto Gomez, last year’s WPC runner-up, signed the petition and personally handed it to Assistant Ombudsman Mark Jalandoni.
Gomez was accompanied by former world champion Alex Pagulayan, billiards player Carlo Biado and BMPAP lawyers Michael Mejia and Jerome De Guzman.
“We write not to besmirch the reputation of Pagcor, BSCP and Raya and their respective officials,” said Gomez.
The petitioners declared it received information that a fraction of the Philippine Sports Commission’s share in the gross income of Pagcor “was not remitted but was instead used for the sponsorship of the WPC.”
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