Palace: PCSO general manager axed due to ‘serious allegations of corruption’

Presidential Spokesperson Salvador Panelo said Balutan was removed from his post “due to serious allegations of corruption.” (File photo: Senate of the Philippines/Facebook)

Malacañang on Friday, March 9, confirmed that President Rodrigo Duterte fired Alexander Balutan as general manager of Philippine Charity Sweepstakes Office (PCSO).

Presidential Spokesperson Salvador Panelo said Balutan was removed from his post “due to serious allegations of corruption,” contrary to the remarks of PCSO deputy spokesperson Florante Solmerin that Balutan “opted to resign” because of his “personal reasons.”

“Good governance and public accountability are the twin hallmarks of the Duterte Administration. These are the standards that those in the government must exercise at all times and with utmost responsibility and fidelity,” Panelo said.

“Those who fail to observe the same will inexorably suffer the harsh and punitive consequences,” he added.

The PCSO chief’s termination, the Palace official said, should serve as a warning to both government officials and employees as President Rodrigo Duterte’s campaign against corruption, just like his war on drugs, will be “relentless and continuing until the last day” of his term.

Balutan, a former Marine officer and 1983 graduate of the Philippine Military Academy (PMA), was appointed by the President last September 2016.

He earlier made headlines after PCSO board member Sandra Cam accused him of spending P10-million for his agency’s Christmas party in 2017, which Balutan denied.

Duterte also defended the PCSO general manager and even told Cam to ‘befriend’ Balutan.

The PCSO chief, meanwhile, accused Cam of seeking his post.

“Bago pa lang siya dumating sinasabi na niya sa media na gusto niya mag-chairman (Before she was even appointed her, she was already telling the media that she wants to be the chairperson),” Balutan told Radyo Inquirer last December 2017.

“Nag-a-apply pa lang, nung araw, last year, ganun na sinasabi niya, lilinisin niya kami rito sa PCSO so sumakit ang loob namin dito (She was just applying last year but she has been saying that she wants to apply internal cleansing in the PCSO so we are hurt). We are building up the reputation of PCSO,” he added.

In 2018, Cam filed grave threats charges against Balutan over alleged threats to her life.

Balutan denies

Following his removal from office, Balutan denied on Saturday, March 9, that he is involved in corruption.

“I told all PCSO employees when I assumed as GM in 2016 that if somebody from OP (Office of the President)/Congress ask/order me to do something which I cannot stomach…I WILL RESIGN,” he said on a statement posted by Solmerin on his Facebook account.

The former Marine general recalled that Duterte asked him to retire early from his military service so that he can help the President run his administration.

“In silence I did and I excel. I did not ask anything from the President in return. The rest was history,” he stressed.

“Career for me is just temporary but character is [for a] lifetime… even beyond my grave,” he added.