PCSO questions P2.6-M medical grants

Manila, Philippines - The Philippine Charity Sweepstakes Office (PCSO) is searching for a beneficiary who was granted P2.6 million in medical assistance for kidney transplant, angioplasty and heart bypass operation, all in a span of one month.

PCSO chair Margarita Juico said the “patient,” Imelda Antonio, remains a mystery because her name was not among the beneficiaries of medical assistance of the charity agency in the past administration.

Juico said the medical procedures are mind-boggling because no patient or doctor will allow consecutive major operations in one month.

She said there is no such patient named Imelda Antonio in the records of the Fund Allocation Department. According to a PCSO board resolution, Imelda Antonio asked P100,000 for medical assistance for laboratory tests in relation to her heart and kidney ailments.

The board, however, approved P180,000 for the laboratory and compatibility test. On Feb. 8, 2010, the board again approved a P1-million financial assistance for her kidney transplant at the National Kidney Institute.

On March 3 of the same year, the patient was granted P500,000 for her angiogram and angioplasty procedures. A week later, March 10, the patient was granted another P1 million for her bypass operation.

As of yesterday the patient’s identity remains a mystery and it was not known if she survived the major medical procedures or if she was among the so-called “ghost patients” of the past PCSO administration.