House to PCSO: Show proof funds don’t go to rich patients

The House Committee on Games and Amusement has asked the Philippine Charity Sweepstakes Office (PCSO) to present its record of beneficiaries to the charity fund as the House panel launched its probe into reports that rich patients confined in the country’s most expensive hospitals have accessed funds meant for indigents. Cavite 4th District Representative Elpidio Barzaga, who chairs the committee, directed officials of the PCSO to show proof that would belie allegations that certain members of the lottery agency’s board have caused the allocation of huge amounts of charity fund to patients who could afford their hospital bills or have been hospitalized in expensive medical centers. Barzaga issued the order during Wednesday’s resumption of congressional hearings on alleged anomalies in the PCSO operations, particularly the disbursement of charity funds and the small town lottery operations. Barzaga asked PCSO General Manager Ferdinand Rojas to present in next week’s hearing the record [...]