CASH COW: How can anyone hide the fact that the Philippine Amusement and Gaming Corp. under former chairman Efraim Genuino was one of the fattest cash cows in the Arroyo barn?

Pagcor apologists better stop blubbering about how Genuino and his boys allegedly watched solicitously over the billions being raked in by the giant gambling machine. Even amateur sleuths will find it easy destroying that claim.

If I were President Noynoy Aquino, after accepting Genuino’s resignation, I would order an independent team to deep-audit his handling of Pagcor funds and resources. A lifestyle check could follow.

To cauterize the cancer in Pagcor, a reformist President should reject self-serving suggestions that Genuino be retained to manage the global gambling city proposed to be built in the reclaimed area by the bay.

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PROBE PAGCOR: “Kung walang corrupt walang mahirap,” went the campaign slogan of Noynoy. He said the obvious — that bureaucratic corruption is at the root of poverty in the country.

Too often, public funds that should go to essential services and alleviate poverty sink instead into the pockets of corrupt officials.

In Pagcor, for instance, millions were reportedly used in the election campaign of individual candidates and party-lists. The misappropriation was so blatant that one would think official conscience has been raped on the gambling table.

If the Commission on Elections wants to launder its image and display a burst of cleansing, it can start a no-nonsense inquiry into the campaign spending in Makati and Los Banos where Pagcor funds and resources were reportedly used.

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SKIMMING: Defenders of Genuino love to point out that the firm’s earnings are allocated to specific beneficiaries identified by law, and that therefore there could not be any diversion.

But friends from Las Vegas and others who have worked in casinos for decades say that one basic racket is in “skimming,” and not really in the distribution of the visible revenues in a manner dictated by law.

Skimming works this way: If casino earnings were like milk being poured into a glass, whatever is contained in it is the visible revenue that will be reported in the books subject to lawful distribution.

What remains unreported is the excess milk that rises above the glass rim and sometimes overflows. That rich lather on top is skimmed, remains unreported, and then is sucked by the usual leeches.

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COLLUSION: This is not to say that Pagcor or Genuino was engaged in skimming. The practice is mentioned only to illustrate that skimming is possible, as it is widely practised in the casino-gambling world.

If President Aquino is sincere in his cleanup, he can start reforms in Pagcor by looking into this possible malpractice.

Theoretically, this and other anomalies — even in biddings and the procurement of goods and services — can be exposed or prevented if the in-house auditor does his job with fidelity.

Collusion stories have it that if an agency wants to buy a fleet of cars, for instance, one way to expedite the purchase is to promise a vehicle to the auditor or his beneficiary. If a junket is in the works, the auditor or his alter-ego must be on board. Et cetera.

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COFFEE CORNER: You think coffee is minor business? A concessionaire serving the brew in Pagcor casinos was noticed to be making easy millions on a little coffee-cream-sugar mix and a lot of water.

What happened, according to insiders, was that the concessionaire’s contract was not renewed. Before he knew what hit him, his thriving business was taken over by a new outfit whose true ownership and profit-sharing scheme remain suspect.

You think playing cards is child’s play? Insiders tell us that the incoming chairman will find himself buried in tons of playing cards already ordered to last Pagcor the next six years. Now, you may want to count also the slot machines….

Or count the playing chips that are issued everyday. Chips are money. Their flow is just as difficult to monitor since nobody knows for sure if the player holding them actually lost, multiplied or encashed them.

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BIG BOSS: Business must be so good that Genuino was reportedly able to share profitable gambling tables with friends.

Until now, insiders are unable to understand why Genuino allowed favored parties to operate gaming tables right inside casino premises – directly competing with Pagcor.

Big question is how much earnest money is being paid, and to whom, by these non-Pagcor operators.

In an attempt to justify money-making tricks in Pagcor, some of its defenders whisper that money is being raised for the Big Boss issuing instructions from beside the Pasig river.

That is not an extenuating element, assuming it is true. It might even be aggravating circumstance.

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BIDA BID: What ever happened to the case of the BIDA party-list? Pagcor money was reportedly used in the organizing and the campaign of BIDA, represented as an anti-drug abuse organization.

Even if only one peso were spent for BIDA, the party-list and its nominees – whose link to Genuino or Pagcor is well known – should be disqualified by the Comelec. Using public money for private gain should not be rewarded.

It is also a case of false advertising. When Genuino was planning to run for president (!) he organized a BIDA march on Roxas Blvd. last year targeting a million warm bodies, including then President Arroyo (who backed out when she sensed something amiss).

No one million marchers were counted by the Guinness Book of Records. Yet the Genuino ads claimed to have gathered some 800,000 participants. Even that adjusted figure is wrong. Guinness said there were only some 350,000.