Duterte clears PCSO’s Balutan over agency’s party

President Rodrigo Duterte on Monday cleared Philippine Charity Sweepstakes Office (PCSO) general manager Alexander Balutan who was accused of throwing a "lavish" Christmas party by his colleague and PCSO board member Sandra Cam.

"Wala 'yun sa akin. Basta ang kuwarta nakaabot lang sa mga canned goods, mga sanina. Kakainin din 'yan. Total kan-on man gihapon na, isul-ob ma na," Duterte said in a mix of Filipino and Cebuano in a speech for the launching of the Malasakit Programs for Visayas in Cebu City.

(It's nothing. As long as the money goes to the [purchase of] canned goods and clothes. You will have to consume them. You will have to eat and wear them anyway.)

Balutan, a retired Marine general, attended the event.

Duterte even asked Balutan to stand up but he mistakenly identified him as an official of the Philippine Amusement and Gaming Corporation (PAGCOR), the agency that regulates gambling operations in the country.

Cam has accused the PCSO of spending P10 million for its Christmas party last year held at EDSA Shangri-la Hotel. Balutan refuted this and said that only P6 million was spent out of the proposed P14-million budget.

Because of this, the Senate has called for a probe into the alleged irregularities in the PCSO where Balutan and Cam faced off. —KBK, GMA News