PCSO charter review sought

MANILA, Philippines – Senator Panfilo Lacson and Philippine Charity Sweepstakes Office (PCSO) Director Ma. Aleta Tolentino agree that there is a need to review the charter of the Philippine Charity Sweepstakes Office.

In a hearing aired over 990AM by the blue ribbon committee, Tolentino said that the current PCSO charter did not penalize PCSO executives who would be proven to be involved in anomalous transactions.

Quoting the PCSO constitution, Tolentino said that only those caught illegally selling lotto and sweepstakes tickets and those hospitals caught fraudulently disbursing the PCSO funds would penalized.

Tolentino said that if proven guilty, violators would be jailed for not less than one month but not more than three years.

“There is a need to revisit the PCSO charter,” Tolentino said when Senator Panfilo Lacson asked if it would be necessary to amend the institution’s laws.

During the same hearing, PCSO General Manager Jose Ferdinand Rojas II said that the PCSO had an outstanding balance of P3 billion in unpaid hospital bills incurred during the term of former president Gloria Macapagal-Arroyo.

He said that former executives of the PCSO overspent on operating and charity funds.

The blue ribbon committee is investigating alleged anomalies in the disbursement of PCSO funds during Arroyo’s term.