PCSO chairperson Margarita Juico FILE PHOTO
MANILA, Philippines—Margarita Juico on Friday denied that there was any intrigue behind her resignation as chair of the Philippine Charity Sweepstakes Office (PCSO).
In a televised interview, Juico denied a newspaper report that said she resigned after an untoward incident involving Interior Secretary Manuel “Mar” Roxas.
“(It’s not that) what he did was offensive and drove me to resign. It’s just, I’m really feeling tired,” Juico said.
The report said Juico was scolded by the President himself when she supposedly denied giving Roxas the documents of Bingo Milyonaryo and other games. Roxas is Aquino’s party mate and an expected presidential candidate in 2016.
“There’s a certain twist to the story. That’s not exactly true,” Juico said.
Juico said what happened was that a person claiming to represent the Department of Interior and Local Government (DILG) came to their office and requested documents.
Juico wrote a letter to the supposed DILG representative to tell the person to go through the office protocol of requesting documents, she said.
“That’s all there is to it. I don’t think there’s anything negative that happened there,” she said.
Juico was named PCSO chair by President Aquino in 2010. Before that, Juico was the social secretary of Aquino’s mother, the late President Corazon Aquino, and served for 17 years on the PCSO board.
A Philippine Daily Inquirer source claimed that an influential Liberal Party congressman allegedly being groomed to replace her is the real reason behind Juico’s unexpected resignation.
Juico is the seventh government official to resign under the Aquino administration. The others who have resigned are Communications Secretary Ricky Carandang, Local Water Utilities Administration chairman Rene Villa, National Bureau of Investigation director Nonnatus Rojas, Customs Commissioner Ruffy Biazon and his deputy Danilo Lim, and National Irrigation Administration head Antonio Nangel.
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