PCSO stops fund ‘abuse’

Citing alleged fund misuse, the Philippine Charity Sweepstakes Office (PCSO) has stopped providing more than P116 million in monthly or quarterly financial assistance to 112 charitable organizations nationwide, some of which are attached to the Department of Social Welfare and Development and the Department of Health (Full list below).

PCSO Chair Margarita Juico said that instead of using the aid from the state-run agency for the purchase of much-needed medicines, health-care products and food items, these institutions had been using the funds for “administrative expenses.”

“They used the PCSO financial assistance on salaries of personnel, electricity and water bills, gasoline and transportation expenses, among other things. They should have spent [the money] on health and nutrition-related items,” Juico told the Inquirer on Saturday.

The PCSO learned about the irregularity from the expense liquidation reports submitted by a number of the organizations, she said, adding that many others had yet to turn in their respective liquidation reports.

Juico said the PCSO had no choice but to stop giving financial aid to these institutions. At least 53 of the charity groups are run by Catholic and other religious organizations. (See list below.)

“A lot more people are in need of PCSO help … A lot more people are knocking at our door,” Juico said.

“These institutions are under evaluation,” she added, suggesting the PCSO might include them again on its list of aid beneficiaries.

But when asked to comment, former PCSO Chair Manuel Morato said that “at PCSO, when an institution is considered under study or under evaluation, it means its financial allocation has been canceled.”

‘Selective assistance’

“What Margie Juico and company are doing is very, very cruel,” said Morato, who is the PCSO chair’s staunchest critic.

He added: “Thousands of young orphans and abandoned children, aged, blind and other disabled people confined in these institutions are now without help and no one to run to. It’s outright cruelty to disadvantaged members of our society. She has no remorse whatsoever in hurting disadvantaged people.”

Morato assailed what he called the PCSO’s “selective assistance” program.

“Charitable institutions that the past administrations helped are no longer extended assistance. It is now very obvious that only those favored and are known to be supporters [of President Aquino] in the last election are given preference, together with the patients referred by friends of the administration and by their politician-allies,” Morato said.

He said the Hospicio de San Jose in Manila “used to receive P2.4 million a year” from the PCSO but was now receiving “zero allocation.”

The other institutions that suffered the same fate were the Philippine Red Cross, Quezon Institute, National Center for Mental Health, Don Bosco Youth Center, Nutrition Center of the Philippines, and Tahanang Walang Hagdanan, he said.

‘Heart of steel’

“It takes one with a heart of steel, if not totally heartless, to do that … To think that Christmas is fast approaching,” Morato said.

“Even Dr. Ramon Sin [a brother of the late Manila Archbishop Jaime Cardinal Sin] has expressed concern over what’s going on at PCSO,” he said.

Ramon Sin heads both the grant endowment office and the pathology department of the UST Hospital in Manila.

Morato said he saw “nothing wrong [in] setting aside a portion of PCSO financial assistance for administrative expenses.”

“How can institutions take care of orphans, unwed mothers, the mentally ill, or old people without social or health workers, with leaking roofs, or without any electricity or water supply? During my time as chairman, if we give a P100,000 assistance, it’s okay to set aside P50,000 of the aid for administrative expenses,” he said.

Morato claimed that “only one institution is being given PCSO aid.” He said this was the Welcome House of the Good Shepherd Sisters, “whose head is a nun, Sr. Pilar Verzosa, a friend of the late President Cory Aquino.”

‘Playing with fire’

Morato also disputed Juico’s statement that PCSO “is bankrupt and having problems due to the agency debts.”

“She is definitely a liar,” he said, adding that the agency was making “over P50 million in daily earnings.”

“By saying it’s bankrupt, she’s playing with fire. Because lotto sales may go down. If the people’s trust and confidence are lost, the lotto will crash. Gaming is based on bettors’ trust and confidence. If the PCSO has no money, how will the people claim their prizes? Also, why is she hitting the very agency she’s representing? It’s crazy,” he said.

Morato said that during his term as chair, the PCSO “inherited over P5 billion in debts from the Estrada administration.”

“But before we left, [the debts] were down to P1.1 billion … Margie and company should be able to settle PCSO’s debts. If not, then that means they’re all a bunch of incompetent people,” he said.

Morato also claimed that “all the tirades” of the present PCSO officials “against us are only meant to smokescreen the anomalies and other wrong things happening at PCSO today.”

“They’re all diversionary tactics. And the PCSO staff knows that,” he said.

Juico had earlier dismissed Morato’s allegations of corrupt practices against her and her husband Philip.

She told this reporter she was praying that Morato would have “peace of mind.”

‘Delisted’ beneficiaries

Aside from the Hospicio de San Jose, the following charitable institutions in Metro Manila (with their respective quarterly or monthly allocations) have been stricken off the Philippine Charity Sweepstakes Office’s (PCSO) “list of regular beneficiaries,” according to PCSO insiders:

Presidential Security Group Station Hospital (P12 million); Philippine Red Cross Blood Service (P15 million); Caritas Manila Scholarship Program (P5 million); Caritas Manila Parish Health Clinics (P4.68 million); Caritas Pag-asa Feeding Program (P1.2 million); Philippine Red Cross Social Service (P1.2 million); Tahanan Outreach Program (P1.2 million); Laura Vicuña Foundation (P1 million); Associacion de Damas de Filipinas (P864,000); Reception and Study Center for Children (P800,000); San Martin de Porres Charity Hospital (P800,000); Friendly Home Luis Amigo (P600,000); Manila Youth Reception Center (P500,000); Pro-Life Philippines Foundation (P500,000); Don Bosco Youth Center (P400,000); St. Clare Patronage for the Sick and Poor (P400,000); Patronato de Nuestra Señora de Lourdes (P360,000); Welcome House Good Shepherd (P340,000); Asilo de San Vicente de Paul (P320,000); Philippine Band of Mercy (P300,000); Samaritan Paco Charities (P280,000); Reception and Action Center (P280,000); and Create a Job for the Disabled Association (P100,000), all in Manila.

Philippine Cerebral Palsy (P500,000); Natasha Goulbourn Foundation (P500,000); Bahay Maria Children’s Center (P320,000); and St. Colleta Special School (P240,000); all in Makati City.

Quezon Institute (P2.4 million); Philippine Tuberculosis Society (P2.4 million); Philippine Mental Health Association (P1.2 million); Ricky Reyes Foundation (P1.2 million); San Martin de Porres Day Care Center (P1.2 million); Golden Acres Home for the Aged (P1 million); Caritas Cubao (P900,000); Caritas Novaliches (P900,000); Kadiwa sa Pagkapari Foundation (P900,000); St. Martine’s Foundation (P800,000); San Martin de Porres Day Care Center (P700,000); Nutrition Foundation of the Philippines (P600,000); Ephpheta Foundation for the Blind (P500,000); Norfil Foundation (P500,000); Religious of the Virgin Mary (P400,000); Bahay Pangarap (P400,000); Good Shepherd Convent (P500,000); Philippine Foundation for the Rehabilitation of the Disabled (P300,000); and Inner Wheel Club (P150,000), all in Quezon City.

Caritas Caloocan (P500,000) and Bahay Kakayahan (P200,000), both in Caloocan City.

White Cross Children’s Home (P1.02 million) and Barrio Onse Puericulture Center and Women’s Club (P400,000), both in San Juan City.

Luwalhati ng Maynila (P1 million); Girls Home Unit (P800,000); Boy’s Home Unit (P600,000); Cribs Philippines Receiving Home (P624,000); Founding Home Unit (P500,000); and Cribs Philippines New Beginning (P336,000), all in Marikina City.

Foundation of Our Lady of Peace Mission (P12.6 million); Caritas Parañaque (P500,000); and St. Peregrine Development Center (P240,000), all in Parañaque City.

Elsie Gaches (P1.35 million); Marillac Hills (P800,000); and Tuloy Foundation (P800,000), all in Muntinlupa City.

Caritas Pasig (P1.2 million) in Pasig City.

National Center for Mental Health (P3.6 million) and Center of Peace (P480,000), both in Mandaluyong City.

Filvets Foundation in Taguig City (P500,000) and Heart of Mary Villa-Good Shepherd Sisters (P1.2 million), both in Malabon City.

Outside Metro Manila

These are the affected institutions outside Metro Manila, still according to PCSO insiders:

Asilo de Molo in Iloilo City (P1 million); Sinag Kalinga in Lucban, Quezon (P1 million); Foundation of Balay Pasilungan in Davao City (P900,000); Louise de Marillac Foundation in Naga City (P800,000); Hermit of St. Carmel in Gigatum, Misamis Oriental (P750,000); St. Francis Learning Center in Subic, Zambales (P720,000); Our Blessed Mother of Victory Mission Foundation in Zamboanga City (P640,000); Bugtaw Ginikanan in Bacolod City (P600,000); Welfare Action Foundation of Davao in Davao City (P540,000); Laguna Provincial Chest Center in Sta. Cruz town (P500,000); Mother Theresa Foundation in Cagayan de Oro City (P500,000); Madre de Amor Hospicio Foundation in Los Baños, Laguna (P500,000); Liwawa Ed Asinan in Dagupan City (P500,000);

St. Vincent’s Home for Older Persons in Bacolod City (P400,000); Tahanang Walang Hagdanan in Cainta, Rizal (P400,000); Camillian Sisters in Cainta, Rizal (P400,000); God’s Covenant Bible Christian Community in Laguna (P400,000); Sta. Ana-San Joaquin Bahay Ampunan in Tanauan, Batangas (P400,000); Cottolengo Filipino in Montalban, Rizal (P400,000); Tahanan ni Maria Home for the Aged in Carmona, Cavite (P400,000); Missionaries of the Poor Heart of Mercy Monastery and Formation Center in Naga City (P400,000); Sta. Luisa de Marillac Foundation in Libon, Albay (P400,000); Dominican Missionary Stella Marris Leprosarium in Zamboanga City (P400,000); Mother Seton Development Center in Cebu City (P400,000); Ladies of Charity in Sorsogon City (P400,000);

Bacolod Boys Home in Bacolod City (P320,000); Louise de Marillac Foundation in Sorsogon City (P320,000); Asilo dela Milagrosa in Cebu City (P320,000); Franciscan Sisters of the Sacred Hearts Children’s Home in Cebu City (P320,000); Nazareth Home for Street Children and Tahanang Mapagpala ng Imaculada Conception (P300,000 each, and both based in Malolos City); Por Cristo Foundation Home for the Abandoned Elderly in Butuan City (P300,000); Cross Foundation Agency for the Rehabilitation of the Disabled in Calauan, Laguna (P300,000); Servants of Jesus of Charity in Iriga City (P300,000); Holy Infant Nursery Foundation in Bacolod City (P300,000);

Orphanage of the Virgin of Guadalupe in Juban, Sorsogon (P280,000); Villa Maria Good Shepherd Sisters in Cebu City (P280,000); Oblate Sisters of the Immaculate Heart of Mary in Vinzons, Camarines Norte (P240,000); Milagrosa Community Development Association in San Francisco, Surigao del Norte (P240,000); Handicapped’s Anchor is Christ in Cebu City (P240,000); Daughter of Mary Mother of the Church in Naga City (P200,000); Reception and Diagnostic Center in Davao City (P200,000); and Ladies of Charity Home for the Aged in Calbayog City (P100,000). Jerry E. Esplanada

First posted 11:46 pm | Saturday, September 24th, 2011