Judge urged to hold PCSO legal department in contempt

MANILA, Philippines — The militant group Anti-Trapo Movement (ATM) called on a Mandaluyong judge to hold the Philippine Charity Sweepstakes Office (PCSO)’s legal department in contempt for allegedly disseminating misinformation on an ongoing case.

“We have taken an active interest in this case because PCSO is currently in a precarious financial situation, with revenue collection hitting rock bottom during the COVID-19 pandemic, and would likely continue to hemorrhage unless the call of president-elect Ferdinand Marcos Jr. for digitization is implemented,” ATM chairman Leon Peralta said in a statement yesterday.

Peralta said it was earlier reported that Mandaluyong Regional Trial Court Branch 212 Judge Rizalina Capco-Umali, during a May 19 hearing on a mandamus petition, stated she was about to go on leave for several weeks and told the petitioner to either wait for her return or  transfer the plea to the RTC’s executive judge for resolution.

Peralta said the judge did not issue the statement.

“The head of the PCSO legal department was present in the hearing, and will benefit from a false narrative, so the false news can only come from them,” he said.

The petitioner was a Filipino-Chinese joint venture seeking to compel the PCSO to implement a contract for the joint venture to provide information and communications technology systems allowing mobile betting for the PCSO’s lotto games.

The PCSO’s legal department opposed the contract, claiming it did not follow due process.

Peralta said his group also found that during the hearing, the PCSO was left with no counsel of record because the Office of the Government Corporate Counsel opted not to represent the agency.

He alleged that some PCSO personnel “treat the agency like personal property, with no accountability even if they bled it bone dry.”

He warned that unless drastic changes are made in the PCSO’s hierarchy and revenue-earning mechanisms, the agency will die a natural death.

Peralta claimed the PCSO’s funds have dwindled to P6 billion compared to P64 billion prior to the pandemic.