PHILIPPINE Charity Sweepstakes Office chairman Jose Jorge Corpuz has resigned from his post “due to health reasons,” Malacañang said Friday.
Corpuz, a member of the Philippine Military Academy Class of 1982, has traded allegations of corruption with former whistle blower Sandra Cam who is linked to gambling lord Charlie “Atong” Ang.
President Rodrigo Duterte has said he will fire a government official, a chairman, three generals and at least 70 policemen.
But Presidential Spokesman Harry Roque said Corpuz was not the chairman President Rodrigo Duterte had wanted to fire.
“Mr. Corpuz, for the information of everyone, is not the person whom the President said he will fire for corruption,” Roque said.
He confirmed the resignation of Corpuz, the official named by Sandra Cam for spending P6 million for the PCSO’s Christmas party.
Cam had publicly accused Corpuz and PCSO general manager Alexander Balutan of spending lavishly following an employees’ Christmas Party last December.
Balutan, however, dismissed Cam’s claims and instead accused her of using her post for political gain.
Corpuz defended the spending on the party, saying the 1,580 PCSO employees who attended “deserved” it for their hard work in raising the agency’s earnings.
Balutan also said the P6-million price tag was a reduction from the P14 million that the Budget department had approved for the event.