(Eagle News)–“Abuse of power.”
This was how Senator Leila de Lima described President Rodrigo Duterte’s order to shut down all forms of gambling operations within the mandate of the Philippine Charity Sweepstakes Office.
“Shutting down PCSO does not make sense and obviously warrants deep scrutiny. Who gains from the closure of PCSO operations?Obviously, not the indigent stakeholders, nor the PCSO employees and lottery operators and staff. Are vested interests behind this abuse of power?,” De Lima asked.
According to De Lima, Duterte’s “impulsive decision has affected the income of an estimated 1,600 employees and around 300,000 lottery operators and sales agents and the welfare of intended PCSO beneficiaries,” and not the so-called corrupt officials.
She said in the first place Duterte was to blame for the so-called corruption in PCSO, as he was the one who appointed the so-called corrupt officials to the government-owned and -controlled corporation.
She added Duterte’s stoppage order was based on what she said were intelligence reports about corruption but there was no formal investigation.
“The last time we heard President Duterte cited intel, what we got was his rubbish matrix that accused members of the opposition in a conspiracy to eject him from office,” she said.
“Tipikal na estilong Duterte itong nangyayari sa PCSO: walang imbestigasyon o totohanan at maayos na imbestigasyon, walang malinaw na plano, walang konsultasyon, walang direksyon, at manhid sa idudulot na epekto sa taumbayan,” she added.
Only recently, Duterte lifted the ban on lotto operations, but the stoppage order on keno, peryahan ng bayan and small-town lottery was so far still in place.
Duterte had issued the stoppage order due to what he said was “massive corruption” involving the courts.
He did not elaborate.
