YOU know why President Digong was so pissed off about the Philippine Charity Sweepstakes Office (PCSO)?
First, because the people he trusted there were bickering over who would collect the remittances from STL, lotto, Peryahan ng Bayan and Keno operators: his newly appointed general manager, recently retired police Col. Royina Garma, and board member Sandra Cam.
Second, reports of massive corruption among PCSO officials and the distribution of franchises were just too many to be brushed aside.
Garma, immediately upon taking over as GM, said all the operations of STL and other games should be handled by her office.
Sandra Cam, speaking for her fellow board members and PCSO Chairman Anselmo Simeon Pinili — whom she treats as a doormat — countered that all gaming operations are to be placed under the board and chairman.
The quarrel apparently stemmed from the huge amount of money given by gaming operators to PCSO officials on the side.
They’re like dogs fighting over a bone.
That’s the reason the Sandra Cam-led board and Pinili fought former GM, Alexander Balutan, who insisted that his office should oversee the gaming operations.
Balutan, a retired Marine general with an unblemished military record, was kicked out after Cam was able to whisper lies to Executive Secretary Salvador “Bingbong” Medialdea about him.
The President said that some military generals were given franchises by the PCSO as if they were privileged individuals.
Retired police general Jose Jorge Corpuz, whom Pinili replaced, awarded four franchises to his mistahs in the Philippine Military Academy (PMA) Class of 1983.
Pinili, another retired police general, gave away one franchise to his classmate in PMA Class 1982.
So, the President was told that only retired generals were favored in the awarding of franchises by their classmates at PCSO?
What about a former Cabinet official whose brother was awarded the small town lottery (STL) franchise for Camarines Norte and Albay?
The Grand Lucky VI — that does not stand for a Roman number six but for the first two letters of a name, Vitaliano — was awarded to former Justice secretary Aguirre.
From the original 18 STL operators during the previous Aquino administrations, the number ballooned to 85 after Digong took over Malacañang to accommodate the retired generals, Aguirre and other big-time people.
PCSO officials were being given huge bribes by STL operators who cheated the government charity agency by remitting the incorrect amounts of the government’s share of the gaming proceeds.
For instance, a Batangas STL operator was supposed to remit P400 million yearly to the PCSO but was only paying P30 million, according to PCSO insiders.
The same insiders said the PCSO was supposed to earn P600 million from a Pangasinan STL operator but was only being paid P30 million in remittances.
* * *
President Digong got a high net satisfaction rating (+51) in a recent SWS survey.
Presidential spokesman Sal Panelo said that Mr. Duterte was happy to learn that the latest results showed a new record high.
“To the Cabinet members, this survey is important as it is demonstrative of the sentiment of the Filipino people, indicating that they are starting to experience a working government that addresses their welfare,” Panelo said.
Secretary Panelo, methinks the President will have a higher net satisfaction rating if he gets rid of the corrupt members of his Cabinet.
Sal, as the Palace spokesman, you know the Cabinet members I’m referring to.
* * *
I agree with fellow Times columnist Rene Saguisag that the charges of sedition, inciting to sedition, cyberlibel, libel, estafa, harboring a criminal and obstruction of justice filed against Vice President Leni Robredo were meant to harass her.
The Criminal Investigation and Detection Group (CIDG) of the Philippine National Police (PNP) should have been more discerning in filing those cases.
The cases filed against Robredo and other opposition figures by the CIDG were based on allegations of Peter Joemel Advincula alias Bikoy.
Advincula is a liar. He first linked President Digong and his family to illegal drugs and then retracted later.
He’s an ex-convict who served time in prison for large-scale illegal recruitment.
Why did the CIDG believe Advincula?
For believing an estafador ex-convict, CIDG investigators are pulis patola or bumbling cops, as Saguisag describes them.
Remember, Saguisag, a human rights lawyer and professor at the San Beda College of Law, is a brilliant lawyer.
* * *
President Digong’s Cabinet members are bickering over whether the Chinese are “in possession” of, or “in position” at, some islands in the Spratlys and in the West Philippine Sea which, according to Mr. Duterte, the Chinese have occupied.
Presidential spokesman Sal Panelo echoes the President’s statement that the Chinese are “in possession” of the islands in question.
But Defense Secretary Delfin Lorenzana says the Chinese are “in position” to better defend the islands in question should we try to retake them.
My gosh, they’re dealing in semantics and quibbling!
Panelo and Lorenzana are both correct.
The Chinese are in a position to defend the islands because they are in possession of them.
Simple, right?
https://www.manilatimes.net/why-digong-scrapped-all-pcso-franchises/591941/
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