g ges

li dtoPC mess
++{Ao u i e Neu\s'/ By Rey E. Requejo, MJ
ct) Blancaflor, Joel E, Zurbano,
Macon Ramos-Araneta
and MaricelV. Cruz

.& i HIEF Justice

$ Lucas Bersamin on
"4. Mondav ordered
Stmilard
-Manila- an inventory oiall cases
involving the Philippine
iTUESDAY JULY 30, 2019
Charity Sweepstakes Office l

amid allegations that some

judges benefited from
comrption at the agency.

Bersamin issued the order after re-

ceiving reports that some courts were
quick to issue temporary restraining
orders or writs of injunction against the
PCSO to stop it from disciplining its
erring agents,
Judges and clerks of first and second
level cou axe required to submit sum-
maries ofthe status oftheirPCSO cases
since 2018, including information on
whcthcr TROs or injunctions were is-
sued. Nertpage

PAQ€ ,oc* ,"-


5C...
hom Al
Judges have unril Aug. 15 ro comply wiLh
lhe order.
On July 26, President Roddgo Duterte or-
dered rhe closure olall PCSO gaming operations
due !o "massive corruplion." By Sunday. police
had shurrcred more than 21.000 gamjng ourlet:.
inchrding 5.1E7 loflo srores; 13,120 sm-all rown
louery kio.ks; 2. I 04 Perf ahan ng Bayan ourlets;
and 472 Keno shops.
On Saturday, Prcsident Duterte said he
would nol honor any,rrdcr liom the cou[s
thal. would stop the govemment's..desire'. Lo
investigate the "massive corrupriorr Lhat is er-
isting in the PCSO."
On Monday. Rappler.com, ciling a soLrce
close ro rhe Presidenr. reporled
lha!;hardrove
Dutelte to issue a new directive was a report
thal allegedly corrupt officjcis and emplLr)ees
ofthe agency were fighiing a PCSO board de-
crsLon to reassign them to anotber sector.
read the rcporr on Thursday. July
- _Durefl.e
25. prompling hirn Lo sunllron rcw
-pCSO
general manageer lloyino CaIrna for.a nreet-
ing the nexl day. tlre news websiLe said. Some
hours later. Malac.ulang aired hjs verbal order
stopping PCSO's ganling formats.
'lhe report included documents $o\a
ing
that Remeliza Gabuyo, Assistant Ceneral MaF
ager o[rhe Branch Opcrar,ons Secor, rcsisred a
board decision ro ransfer her lo rhe oflice ofLhe
Ceneral Maruger ofrJre Man,rgclneni Sector, lhe
Rappler report addcd.
The leftet dated March 14, inlor lued PCSO
chairman ot rhe board and lhen officer-in-
charge Anselmo Pinili lhtt CJbuyo's lransfer
cannot be enforced since slle had afpealed jt
befbre the Civil Service Corrmission.
Iir another Rappler report, Pinili had also
raised concems over the oases in a Feb. 12
letter to the high court\ Office of the Cou
Administrator. Pinili claimed that wlits of
prcliminary iqiunction were issued tb Small
Town Lotrery agents whose agreements with
PCSO had been terminated
Court Administrator Midas Marquez then
issued lhe circular on Monday afterdiscussing
with Bersamin "serjous alJegations ofmassivi
corruplion involving small town lottery and
other gaming frarchises issued by the PCSO,
some of whicb have suppossdly reached rhe
courts," the.news site added.
Marquez had also issued a memorandum
tojudges of rhe Regional Trial Courr of Man-
dahyong City, somc of whose bronches have
delivered TROs and injunctions againsl
PCSO.
Meanwhile, bver 300,00b wirrkers of rhe
fL systern are in limbo following the sus-
S circumspecr in ganting TROs and Wpts iD
pension ofthe PCSO's gaming operations.
Documetrls obrained by Manila StaDdard
sbo\aed rhat the SfL sysl.em alone.leneraled
a lotal of314,596 jobs for organic eiployees,
sales superviso and sales agents/represenla-
lives narioDwide" for the year2018,
These workers-most of them_former col-
lectors oflhe illegal numbers gamc ,jueteng'.
which rhe STL w;s builL to c6mbat-:tcmpo-
rurily lost theirjobs as the gaming agency iris
yet ro anoounce whal itplans for them.
Labor Assistant Secretary Betrjo Benavi-
dez sajd io a press conference Monday that
affQctedPCSO workers who are members of
Lhe Social Security Sysrem could apply for
unemployment insurance under [epublic
Acr lll99 orthe Social Security Act oi20l9
(Sce relaled story on A3).
Also, Senalor Christopher "Bort'' Go rerrealed
u"5 PCSO gem"l manager Royina Carma who
iL
sought Pruident Rodrigo DuHet help in curbing
tle alJeged corrupdon in the dgency.
The Presidcnt made rlle announcement $op-
piry PCSO'S gaming operations two hours afi;r
his meeting with Carma. accordilg to Go.
The order was purely the President,s deci-
\ 4aFtaLtile-
(q,
siol, not Garma's, the senatq said. Co
also though the president had said he will not hon-
sai9 Duterte had ordered the legal team ofthe or an-y court order,
Office ofthe President to review all contrscts *We still have to have oul courts to be the
entered into by PCSO, srbiter of questions on constitutionality and
'Actually this is how it happened: The new executive aitions," he said.
general manager Garma reponed that she re- Bayan Muna Rep. Carlos Zarcte on Mon_
ally- needed.the Piesident's help because drc day ieid presidenf Durertet., order to itop
relly found ir hard ro figbt rhe conuption in the gaming operations of the PCSO was ,t;nfair
PCSO. andto srop the huge losses of0re agelcy and iuegai,"
..lf the corrupt people invqlved
m the past tbw monrhs," Duterteb e$rwbile as- are presi_
sistant told reponers at rhe Senare on Monday. dent Duterte,s app6inties rhen he shouta
have
l hrs rs.not the tirst time the Supreme Coutt sacked these officials and overhaul the said
.
has-acted on the conlroversy hounding the office. But what is happening now is thar he
Pcso. , is.punishing euerytoa]yl inctriaing the peopie
-
In March, Court Adminisharor Midas Mar- wtio rely on- pCSb foihelp for deir mediial
-
quez lssued a memo calling on judges in the needs, Zarst! said.
more
Mandaluyong RegionalTlial Court to be ..The question
now is whowill benefit from
tbese unibaritable sweeD operarions?.,
cases involving PCSO franchises. The palace on Monddy s;id the president is
The Coun Adminisfiaror reminded judges thoroughly invisiilaffi cJ.iuJ actiuiries io
to.Iolow the requisrres in granring TROS and the PCSO and would identify rhe culprirs .in
WPls aller receiving a complaint ftom the
duetime."
PCSO chairman about a coun issuance fd- ,.Right no%
the president said he will in-
voflng a smatt town.lortery o_p_eralor whose yestigate it thorowhly. He will identify every_
agency agreement with rhe PCSO had already one," panelo sai( in a radio interview'
been terminared fo! non-remiLtance of funds. Th" pulac" ,pokesrnun aiioialJtte pCSO
pre sident
. A lawmaker, meanwhile, said the vyill iror resume operations untii the govem-
should have lbllowed due process before or- ment finiihes its irivestieation.
dering the closure ofthe PCSO outlets, .[Ie said fiere js a graid
consprary betlvecn
Sfaktg P {Nq! fady Edirion, Caga}€n d€ the plales, participanslana gamlig rciporaions.
^ Rep: Runts or-
90 loddquez said the.Pr€sidenth tn <itriiworUs. *r,jre is inassiie mrirpriin ard fie
der was'loo drasric and rooimmediate." courls are invoh€d" panelo said
_.
"Everytody a$ees ttrat what tlle prcsident panelo said th; prcsident did not make a
did.was laudable bg;auy. heh really_ fighting hasty decision in suspenAing pclOt gu-ing
aga6t corruption. [But] I believe the Prcsident opercrions.
'
should have really given due process. esp€cially .,The presjdenl met wiLh officials and the
with those who ahesdy luve a contracr." he said. new PCSO head belore he announced it, a few
}Ie added that polica power was not appli- hours-before..In fact, they were togethei at the
cable in thiscase, ' time." he said.
"The obligation ofcontracrs is always pro- paDelo was referring to
Royina Carma, for-
tected by the CoDstiturion.It can only be set mer Cebu City pptcjdireitor, who beiame
process," he
aslde through due proc€ss," said. pCSO's
PCSO's general rentrcif,o Alexan-
manaser replacing
seneral manager, Aleyen-
Rodriguez said PCSO outlet franchise der Baluian who wus -tiiO 6v the-president
owners may appeal through the courts, even overallegations ofcorruption.
ileno,r v