MANILA, PHILIPPINES -- For the alleged misuse of funds of the state lottery firm, Philippine Charity Sweepstakes Office (PCSO), a former Philippine president and her friend and former PCSO general manager are now the subject of plunder charges filed at the Office of the Ombudsman by two sectoral representatives.
Bayan Muna (Nation First) Representatives Teodoro Casiño and Neri Colmanares have filed a plunder, graft, and malversation case against former President now Congresswoman Gloria Macapagal-Arroyo and former PCSO GM Rosario Uriarte for allegedly misusing some Php 325 million (US$ 7.5 million) of the PCSO's intelligence funds.
In a statement relating to their filing of the case, the two congressmen said:
"Charity, they say, begins at home. But for the PCSO, charity begins at Malacañang Palace (referring to the official residence of the Philippine president). Recent information from the Philippine Charity Sweepstakes Office, exposed in both houses of Congress, have revealed a level of corruption and abuse that puts to shame even the most heartless of thieves."
The filing of the case stems from recent probes done by the Philippine Senate and the new PCSO board which revealed alleged irregularities in the handling of the state lottery firm's intelligence fund. That the PCSO even had an intelligence fund in the first place is also being questioned. It was then President Arroyo who approved the PCSO's intelligence fund, allocating it from the agency's charity funds generated from sales of lotteries and sweepstakes.
In their complaint, Casiño and Colmenares alleged that Arroyo had granted former GM Uriarte's request for Php 325 million for use as intelligence fund. Part of the amount, according to the two sectoral lawmakers, were allocated from the PCSO's media budget. The two lawmakers said that by re-aligning the money for use as intelligence fund made tracking them unauditable. There are speculations that the former administration had used government funds, allocated from different agencies including the PCSO, to finance its campaign in the 2010 elections.
The lawmakers also noted that Uriarte, who was by 2010 appointed Special Disbursement Officer specifically for the intelligence fund, had not presented a PCSO Board resolution allowing her to make a request for the allocation of budget for the intelligence fund.
In a recent Senate probe, Uriarte admitted making the request and said that the intelligence fund was used for Small Town Lottery operations, relief operations, and payment of blood money to help rescue overseas workers facing death penalties.
Casiño and Colmenares also asked the Ombudsman to conduct lifestyle checks on the two respondents, and to monitor and freeze their accounts and assets if needed. In addition, Casiño and Colmenares also asked for an investigation into other alleged anomalies in the PCSO including the supposed unlimited advertising budget which were allegedly taken advantage of by some former directors and their media friends.
Source: Inquirer.net
Posted: July 13, 2011
