Group urges PCSO chief: Resign out of delicadeza

Former Cavite Rep. Erineo “Ayong” Maliksi, now PCSO chairman. Photo from congress.gov.ph

The advocacy group Coation of Filipino Consumers CFC) has urged embattled Philippine Charity Sweepstakes Office Chairman Erineo “Ayong” Maliksi to immediately resign from his post following the filing of plunder and graft charges against him.

Maliksi has been sued by the Filipino Alliance for Empowerment and Transparency (Fate) for plunder after he stopped the operations of the small town lottery (STL) for two months in June last year that caused the PCSO huge losses in revenues amounting to an estimated P15 bilion.

He is also facing graft charges for hiring 30 ghost consultants and giving undue favor to his driver, Celestino Aman, who got more than P2 million in medical assistance from PCSO for his hospitalization at the Philippine Heart Center.

“Out of delicadeza, Chairman Maliksi should immediately step down from his post. Nakakahiya siya. President Benigno Aquino is about to end his term and he’s been getting flak for his appointees especially Maliksi,” said Perfecto Tagalog, CFC spokesman.

Tagalog said President Aquino should not give unwarranted favor to Maliksi, who is a member of the president’s Liberal Party.

“President Aquino has been touting his ‘Daang Matuwid’ policy but Maliksi’s actions go against this policy,” he said.

CFC said through Maliksi’s lobbying, Aman got more than P2 million from PCSO to pay for his hospital bill.

In addition, Maliksi wrote a letter to the Philippine Heart Center to request that the P700,000 of his pork barrel fund or Philippine Development Assistance Fund (PDAF) be used to defray the remaining balance of Aman’s bill.

“This is detestable. Clearly, Maliksi favored Aman. While thousands of Filipino patients are unable to get assistance from the PCSO, here is Maliksi using his government position for Aman,” Tagalog said.