Duterte dared to expose PCSO officials involved in ‘massive corruption’

MANILA, Philippines — Bayan Muna Rep. Carlos Zarate on Monday challenged President Rodrigo Duterte to expose all officials or individuals involved in the “massive corruption” at the Philippine Charity Sweepstakes Office (PCSO).

The President has ordered all gaming activities of the PCSO, including lotto, small town lottery (STL), Peryahan ng Bayan, and Keno, stopped due to alleged massive corruption in the agency.

READ: Duterte stops all PCSO gaming activities including lotto, STL

Duterte’s shutdown directive affected at least 30,000 gaming outlets operated by the PCSO nationwide.

READ: Over 30,000 PCSO gaming outlets shut down

“Kung totoo man na meron pang hawak na mga impormasyon si Pangulong Duterte sa isang napakalalim na conspiracy, ay ihayag nya ito sa publiko ngayon na dahil sabi ko nga, ang publiko rin naman, lalung-lalo na ang mga mahihirap, ang natatamaan nito,” Zarate said in an interview.

The House deputy minority leader said that if Duterte bares the corruption scheme at PCSO now, it could be a step towards accountability and could dispel skepticism of people, who think the closure of all PCSO activities was just a diversion from Duterte’s move to veto the Security of Tenure bill.

READ: It’s official: Duterte vetoes Security of Tenure bill

“Syempre hindi natin [maiiwasan] ‘yung iba mag-iisip baka gumawa na naman ng isyu ang Malakanyang para tabunan ‘yung nagiging reakyon ng mga manggagawa sa pag-veto niya doon sa endo, alam naman ninyo pinaasa ang mga manggagawa… at the end of the day ang kinampihan pa rin nya ‘yung mga kapitalista at mga negosyante,” the opposition lawmaker said.

‘Why punish everybody?’

Duterte’s order could also be seen as a “failure of his anti-corruption campaign,” according to Zarate.

“If the corrupt people involved are Pres. Duterte’s appointees then he should have sacked these officials and overhaul the said office. But what is happening now is that he is punishing everybody, including the people who rely on PCSO for help for their medical needs,” Zarate said in a separate statement.

“The question now is who will benefit from this uncharitable sweep operations?” asked the Davao-based lawmaker.

Since 2011, the House Makabayan bloc has been pushing for probes and reforms at PCSO, Zarate said.

Last year, they filed House Resolution No. 1599 which sought to investigate the alleged anomalies in the PCSO such as the P9.8-million fund of the agency that was spent for its Christmas party; the agency’s measly P2 billion allocation for charity out of its P18 billion revenues from STL; only 15-20 percent STL operators report their actual revenues, and that 80 percent of these revenues are used to pay-off high-ranking officials of the PCSO; and the alleged hiring of PCSO officials’ children as staff and consultants.

“Just last SONA (State of the Nation Address) Pres. Duterte said that his military and police appointees are not corrupt but the incidents in the BOC (Bureau of Customs), PCSO and other agencies are telling otherwise,” Zarate said. /kga