PCSO uncovers juggling of funds

MANILA, Philippines – Officials of the Philippine Charity Sweepstakes Office (PCSO) have reported that their predecessors juggled funds intended for charity, operations and prizes, resulting in the loss of billions of pesos that could have been used for medical assistance to the poor.

In a report, the PCSO board said the three funds that were intended for prizes, charity and operations were supposed to be separate, but previous officials merged the funds.

Under the PCSO charter, the funds generated from the sales of online lottery and sweepstakes tickets were supposed to be allocated to the prize fund (55 percent), charity program (30 percent), and operations (15 percent).

The agency has been generating over P20 billion in income every year from the sale of tickets of the lotto, sweepstakes, and other legal number games. The agency earned P27 billion in 2010.

The PCSO board’s report signed by chairperson Margarita Juico and other board members said the agency spent billions of pesos in advertising in excess of its approved budget from 2001 to 2008.

“To conceal the huge expenses, part thereof were debited to the following accounts: miscellaneous/other expenses, pre-payments and other assets,” the report said.

PCSO had also produced movies, television shows and even concerts, which is beyond its mandate similar to the activities conducted by the Philippine Amusement and Gaming Corp.

The report said despite the repeated recommendations from the Commission on Audit to cut advertising expenses, the previous PCSO officials still authorized the production of various teleseryes, such as “Pangarap kong Jackpot,” “Kroko, Diyos ko Mahal mo ba Sila?” and “Krusada Kontra Krimen.”

“PCSO also sponsored concerts and produced a full length movie, incurring million of losses,” the report said.

The PCSO also had accumulated payables to hospitals worth P2.9 billion, P1 billion in payables for TV and radio advertisements, and P3 billion in unpaid taxes to the Bureau of Internal Revenue.