Palace: Duterte to name less than 10 ‘corrupt’ PCSO officials

MANILA, Philippines — President Rodrigo Duterte will be naming around 10 Philippine Charity Sweepstakes Office (PCSO) officials allegedly involved in corruption, Malacañang said Thursday.

Presidential spokesperson Salvador Panelo said Duterte mentioned this during his speech at the 70th National Intelligence Coordinating Agency (NICA) anniversary in Quezon City on Wednesday.

“Iyon lang ang sinabi niya. He didn’t elaborate on that. So let’s just wait for the announcement of the President,” Panelo said in a Palace briefing.

Panelo echoed the statement of Duterte’s long-time aid and now Senator Christopher Go that the President would name less than 10 PCSO officials allegedly involved in corruption.

Go said Duterte made the announcement during his closed-door event last Wednesday.

“Last night sinabi niya sa speech niya, merong siya papangalanan na, less than 10 of them, may mga opisyal sa PCSO na papangalanan ni Pangulong Duterte… involved sa corruption sa PCSO kaya lugi ang operations ng PCSO,” he said.

Asked to elaborate on Go’s statement, Panelo said: “Kung paano sinabi Senator Bong, iyon na iyon. Ganoon lang.”

In a video message last Friday night, Duterte ordered all gaming activities of PCSO, including Lotto, Keno, Peryahan ng Bayan, and Small Town Lottery, stopped.

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

Four days after, Panelo announced that Duterte has lifted the suspension of the lotto operations.

READ: Suspension of Lotto operations lifted – Panelo

Panelo earlier said Duterte would identify those behind the PCSO corruption “in due time.”

READ: Palace: Duterte will identify those behind alleged PCSO corruption ‘in due time’  

/kga