PCSO charity assistance close to P4 billion so far in 2024

The Philippine Charity Sweepstakes Office (PCSO) said Tuesday that it has provided nearly P4 billion in charity assistance so far in 2024 even as it vowed to continue providing funds for Universal Health Care (UHC) as mandated by law.

"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," said PCSO General Manager Mel Robles during an interview with GMA News Online at the Ortigas Center in Pasig City.

"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 (The PCSO should first be prioritizing charitable activities)," Robles added.

For 2025, the PCSO head said he hopes charity and health would not be "politicized" as he plans to "expand" the government-owned and -controlled corporations' coverage in terms of 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," he said.

Part of the PCSO's targets is to provide at least 1 ambulance for each municipality in the country. In the past two years, Robles said the office has managed to donate 600 ambulances to towns and cities.

PCSO's 'early Christmas'

Robles said he was elated after the PCSO was named among the top performing GOCCs for the second straight year.

"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."

The PCSO chief's statements come after several lawmakers questioned the state-run firm regarding the frequency of lotto jackpot winners, accusations of lotto results manipulation, and the identification of winning bettors.

Robles said the latest recognition from the GCG is a "screaming testament as to how the PCSO is being governed", particularly in response to its detractors who have questioned the GOCC's transparency.

"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," he maintained.

Robles added the 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 (as a government institution you have to expect that someone will keep an eye on you. That's why we are proactive. In fact, we are an awardee for compliance with the Freedom of Information Act)."

The PCSO chief considers the "solid achievements" that attest to the fact that the PCSO's current leadership "is governing well and in the process we are transparent to everybody." — VDV, GMA Integrated News