House Hearing Grills Former PCSO Manager Garma on Stint as GM
Former PCSO Manager Garma admitted hiring relatives to positions in the Philippine Charity Sweepstakes Office during her term.
One of the huge government institutions in the Philippines is the Philippine Charity Sweepstakes Office or more popularly called PCSO. It is the legal lotto-operator in the country and millions of people join the lottery games. It also offers a PCSO Medical Cash Aid for poor Filipinos during health situations.
The PCSO is one of the state entities with a lot of employees. Recently, its former general manager, Royina Garma, appeared in a hearing at the House of Representatives.
At the hearing, Garma was grilled after the former PCSO Manager admitted that she hired her relatives during her term as the general manager. Based on a report on ABS-CBN News, one of those she hired is her daughter.
Former PCSO Manager Garma hired her daughter as “confidential agent”. Based on the report, during the House hearing, House Committee on Public Order and Safety Representative Dan Fernandez asked about her decision to hire her daughter although she did not meet the qualifications for the position.
The qualifications for the position of “confidential agent” includes experience in law enforcement. Fernandez cited that the qualifications of a confidential agent includes a bachelor’s degree in criminal justice.
The House Committee on Public Order and Safety Representative directly asked former PCSO manager Garma if her daughter has an experience in law enforcement. The former GM replied in the negative.
According to Garma, her daughter has no experience in law enforcement but she is very confident in writing reports and editing communications. Based on the report, Fernandez also raised that the former General Manager’s daughter was allegedly sick when she was hired for a position in the PCSO.
The former PCSO Manager claimed that during that time, her daughter was only diagnosed for dyslexia. She stressed that it does not mean that a person is “mentally ill” if she has dyslexia. According to Garma, the bipolar diagnosis only came after she left the PCSO.
Based on the report, when asked if her move was unethical, the former General Manager of the Philippine Charity Sweepstakes Office defended that the positions wherein she hired relatives only required “trust and confidence”.