Duterte to identify culprits in PCSO corruption —Palace

Malacañang on Saturday said President Rodrigo Duterte will release the names of those behind an alleged corruption scheme in the Philippine Charity Sweepstakes Office (PCSO), which prompted him to suspend all the gaming operations of the agency.

“The Chief Executive will identify the culprits in due time and the full force of the law will come crushing  down on them. This hydra-headed corruption will be cut off until it reproduces no more,” presidential spokesperson Salvador Panelo said in a statement.

Duterte, late Friday, ordered a halt in all gaming operations with franchises, licenses or permits granted by the PCSO, citing “massive corruption.” 

The order will take effect Saturday, July 27, he said.

“Puro dayaan lahat, at 'yung mga kontrata ay parang crafted in favor of corruption and to favor other corporation. . . .I will not honor any order from any court stopping us or enjoining us to stop our desire to go into investigation for the massive corruption that is existing in the PCSO," the President said.

Panelo confirmed that Duterte ordered the immediate closure of all outlets of Lotto, STL (small town lottery) and other gaming schemes, such as Peryahan ng Bayan, all over the country due to “massive corruption.”

“It appears that there is a grand conspiracy among the major players and enforcers of these government-sanctioned gaming activities and enterprises to cheat the government of its rightful shares, depriving therefore the masses of our people of receiving basic services needed by them,” the Palace official said.

“The President has ordered all licences, concessionaires, and franchises issued by the PCSO are all recalled, cancelled  and withdrawn, effective immediately. All law enforcers are directed to implement the President’s directives with dispatch and without exception,” Panelo said.                                     

The Palace official is outraged by the discovery of the “plunderous machinations” of PCSO’s “scoundrels” whose “insatiable greed is infinite and beyond redemption.        

“Let this be a stern warning to all malefactors in the government, as well as all the enemies of the state, the Duterte presidency will be unrelenting in its war against corruption and unforgiving to the transgressors of the law,” Panelo said.

“The President shall continue to brandish the flaming sword of his office and strike it at the heart of this social and political monstrous dragon,” he said. —Ted Cordero/KG, GMA News