Audit the PCSO

Throughout her husband's rise to fame and power, Luisa Ejercito has always kept a low profile. As First Lady, she has stayed out of politics and government, doing what first ladies normally do: charity work, community service. Being a psy-chiatrist, there is a special place in her heart for medical missions. For the most part, she has tried to stay out of the numerous controversies that have hounded her husband's adminis-tration. Even when her office was tagged last year as a recipient of "hot" goods confiscated by the Bureau of Customs, the First Lady emerged unscathed.

Now she's under fire, together with her eldest son and, of course, her husband. Sister Christine Tan, a Good Shepherd nun, is accusing the First Couple and their son, San Juan Mayor Jinggoy Estrada, of misusing P430 million in Philippine Charity Sweepstakes Office funds. Tan made the accusations in letters sent to several newspapers, shortly after she lost her job as PCSO board member. Under the circumstances, such accusations could have been easily dismissed.

Tan, however, is not just a religious worker, but a nun known for integrity and courage. She apparently has been surprised by the government's "acceptance" of her "resignation" from the PCSO board. This administration is becoming notorious for such messy partings, and Tan's dismissal from the PCSO has made her defenders wonder if she had stepped on powerful toes. Her accusations tend to bear out these suspicions, especially since Mayor Estrada, who is known to be eyeing a Senate seat next year, has already been criticized for taking charge of the disposition of PCSO ambulances.

A hurting First Lady -- sleepless, she said, from worry and jet lag -- called a rare press conference yesterday to present documents showing that all the funds from the PCSO have been well spent by her office. She thanked Tan for calling public attention to the civic work done by the office of the First Lady. Her defenders, meanwhile, wondered why Tan is raising an accusing finger only after her ouster, and did not protest when she was still with the PCSO board.

Still, Tan's accusations cannot be dismissed lightly. Yesterday, a piqued President Estrada called for an audit of PCSO funds by the Commission on Audit and a private firm. This could be the best way to settle this controversy. Let's hope this is a serious proposal.