MANILA, Philippines — The Philippine Sports Commission has sought the help of the Office of the Solicitor General (OSG) in running after a former employee, identified as Paul Michael Ignacio, who was allegedly involved in a payroll scam that rocked the agency recently.
“We need all the help we can get to get to the bottom of this and make every effort that nothing of this sort ever happens again,” PSC chairman William “Butch” Ramirez said yesterday.
Ramirez asked the OSG if it could salvage whatever was left of the stolen government funds and confiscate real or personal property owned by Ignacio and return it to the government.
Ignacio was arrested by the National Bureau of Investigation last week.
The PSC formed its own fact-finding committee to investigate if there are others involved in the payroll scam involving monthly allowances of national athletes.
It also prompted the PSC to make a total review of its entire operations and procedures while mulling the possibility of reshuffling department heads due to the scam.
“The board is one-hundred percent with the chairman on this,” said PSC commissioner Ramon Fernandez, who acted as PSC officer-in-charge in Ramirez’s absence the past month due to family matters.
Ramirez appointed deputy executive director and lawyer Guillermo Iroy Jr. to lead the legal team in pursuing the case while tapping independent auditors to prevent the incident from happening again.
“We need fresh eyes to take a look at our processes and seek out areas that need to be strengthened,” said Ramirez.