PCSO funds to PNP were all legal, says DILG Sec Robredo

MANILA, Philippines — The Philippine Charity Sweepstakes Office’s fund provisions to the national police were legal, Interior and Local Government Secretary Jesse Robredo said on Tuesday.

“What we need to know is if the funds were spent properly or judiciously. We need to have a breakdown of the expenses using the PCSO funds,” said Robredo.

PNP chief Director General Raul Bacalzo confirmed last Monday that they had received ‘support funds’ from the PCSO and that these were mostly used as financial assistance, or to purchase equipment.

Four of the six PCSO accounts had become dormant, Bacalzo said. He identified the two active accounts as the PCSO Program Management Committee Fund, and the Sweepstakes Operations Fund.

But he said that the contents of the two active accounts had been returned to the Bureau of National Treasury in January when the four other accounts were closed.

He added that the PNP did not receive funds from the PCSO in 2009, and in 2010.