PCSO, with its humanitarian mandate and lofty objectives, now finds itself at the center of controversy involving one of its directors, Sandra Cam. Cam has lost no time in discrediting the agency.
Any constructive criticism by anyone on anyone is always most welcome, so long as the objective is to highlight areas for improvement.
But why go to town with one’s observations if one is already within the organization, and in a position to change the status quo? A healthy, open discourse supported by facts will be enough to start reforms.
Cam, however, appears to know which media buttons to push so that the PCSO, as an institution, is questioned despite its recent gains, like its substantial increase in income from P37 billion in 2016 to P51 billion in 2017.
Cam also griped that the agency had rejected her request for rice and groceries for a supposed gift-giving activity over the holidays. The motive was suspect, however, because the areas were not even under a state of calamity.
Cam’s name—and associations with one Charlie Ang—simply carry too much baggage. It has never been a secret that PCSO turned down Ang’s company’s bid to operate Small Town Lottery, and for good reason. Authorities are looking at probing Ang and this company for possible tax evasion.
Talk about thinly veiled vested interests.
STL has proven itself an effective alternative to the illegal numbers game jueteng. Revenue from this legal activity has allowed the agency to fund medical services such as payment for hospital bills, dialysis and chemotherapy treatments of hundreds of thousands of Filipinos, most of them from far-flung areas.
Aside from illegal drugs, illegal gambling is a menace so widespread in the country. It takes away from government money that is rightfully its own to fund programs that would help the poor and marginalized.
This mess must be sorted out, pronto, and characters’ real agenda soon exposed. The hapless Filipino, whose needs the PCSO must respond to, immediately, should not find himself or herself in the middle of this senseless storm.