MANILA, Philippines – Aabot na sa P4 bilyon ang charity assistance na naipamahagi ng Philippine Charity Sweepstakes Office (PCSO) ngayong 2024.
“For charities alone it’s close to P4 billion. We have others… because 40% of our charity goes to PhilHealth so we practically fund the Universal Health Care Law. So a big amount of our charity fund goes there,” pahayag ni PCSO General Manager Mel Robles sa panayam ng GMA News nitong Martes, Disyembre 3.
“We are happy to support the Universal Health Care Law. Of course, it should be raising funds for charity, but, of course, it should be charity muna,” dagdag ni Robles.
Para sa 2025, sinabi ng PCSO na umaasa itong ang pagtulong at kalusugan ay hindi na popolitikahin kasabay ng plano nitong palawigin pa ang sakop ng government-owned and -controlled corporations pagdating sa recipients.
“This is the only government agency mandated to conduct charity… this is my enviable task. The means is lottery, but the task is charity. Last year, we served 300,000 individuals. That’s 1,000 people a day whose lives became better. We plan to expand,” aniya.
Target ng PCSO na makapagbigay ng Kahit isang ambulansya sa bawat munisipalidad sa bansa.
Sa nakalipas na dalawang taon, sinabi ni Robles na nakapagbigay sila ng 600 ambulansya sa mga bayan at lungsod sa Pilipinas.
“It’s an early Christmas for us. In the second year of being evaluated by the Governance Commission for Government-Owned and Controlled Corporations (GCG), we didn’t expect [that] we would get the top award of Outstanding GOCC. I am very happy. These are very tangible results—they measured us… these are solid science of evaluating. This is the best PCSO ever since this is the first time we achieved this award.”
Ang pahayag ni Robles ay kasunod ng pagkwestyon ng ilang mambabatas kaugnay sa dalas ng mga nananalo ng lotto jackpot, akusasyon ng manipulasyon sa resulta sa lotto, at ang pagkakakilanlan ng mga nanalo sa lotto.
Aniya, ang pinakahuling pagkilala sa PCSO mula sa GCG ay isang “screaming testament as to how the PCSO is being governed.”
“We are a member of the World Lottery Association, we are ISO Certified, our contractors have gaming licenses, we have all solid systems in place and checks internally. In terms of transparency, it comes with the territory,” pagpapatuloy nito.
Dagdag ni Robles, ang PCSO “as a government institution you have to expect may sisilip sa iyo. Kaya pro-active kami. In fact we are an awardee of the Freedom of Information.” RNT/JGC
