Charitable Accountability

The current PCSO administration has ceased to provide financial aid to many charitable institutions who they say have misused these aid for purposes other than for the benefit of those in need. Instead of going into feeding and caring programs, they have been used for administrative purposes such as the salaries of personnel, gasoline and food expenses of the staff, electricity and water bills. About P116 million pesos in monthly or yearly aid will now be terminated, pending a review of their liquidation reports. These reports are also the same source of their discoveries on the way monies were being spent.

 As expected, former PCSO chairman Manoling Morato has criticized the move as cruel and discriminatory, citing that most of the institutions that had their funding cut were being helped by the past Arroyo administration, and that those close to President Aquino’s mother, Cory, were still enjoying funding. But a check on the institutions no longer receiving financial aid showed a wide coverage, and not selective as inferred by Morato.

 But the current PCSO should further investigate if the so-called invalid expenses are truly invalid, or necessary for the institution to continue operations. A delicate balance must be attained by every organization with relation to funds. How can a feeding program continue without the proper cooking equipment to prepare the food? Or how can outreach health programs even do without gasoline in their vehicles? It’s a different story if the electricity used was for the air conditioning of their offices rather than for preparing food. Or if the gasoline purchased for their official vehicles was used on an out-of-town trip for the employees.

 I find it hard for the PCSO to have financial problems if the organization is being run correctly. The source of funding of the PCSO is cash from the citizenry. Nothing could be simpler, nothing could be more constant. Revenues from the lotto operations alone run into the millions of pesos everyday! So managing those funds is the job of the PCSO. Just recently, the organization has come under scrutiny after it was discovered that funds were being used to purchase vehicles for selected priests, who are known to support the former president Arroyo. Who knows just how much funds from the PCSO were used in this manner? My guess is that the current PCSO is just making sweeping reforms to reset, if you will, their whole system. Once that occurs, they can be more discerning where the financial aid can continue, or where it should stop altogether.

 Money is always a sticky subject whenever government is concerned. Money is always at the root of all anomalies and corruption. How the people’s money is spent is the responsibility of government. Charity is always a valid excuse for releasing money, therefore the easiest to abuse. Having said that, halting financial aid altogether may be halting the purpose of the PCSO itself. Investigating how these charitable institutions liquidate the aid they receive should filter those still worthy of receiving aid from those who just take advantage of the money for personal purposes. From the mundane charging of cellphones to the more serious graft and corruption cases, the PCSO must know how the money of the people is being spent. They after all, do have to eventually account to the people.