The Philippine Charity Sweepstakes Office (PCSO) technically sends nearly half of its entire charity fund to PhilHealth for Universal Health Care, which means that when a patient receives help from PhilHealth, part of that money came from PCSO.
And yet, when that same patient walks into a PCSO office asking for additional medical assistance, the agency helps them again, because the institution’s 92-year tradition of direct service to Filipinos in need does not allow it to simply point people elsewhere, PCSO General Manager Melquiades “Mel” Robles said Saturday.
Robles explained the apparent paradox in an interview on DZRH News program Special on Saturday on September 19, acknowledging that PCSO could close its doors to direct applicants and redirect them to PhilHealth, but chooses not to.
The PCSO general manager said the agency chose not to take the easy rout, because doing so would be technically correct but deeply wrong in the context of what the agency has always represented to ordinary Filipinos.
“Sa totoo lang, if we want to go technical, pwede na naming sabihin na nandoon na ‘yung pera namin. Doon na ba tayo humingi? Pero dahil for the last almost 92 years, nakagawian na po ‘yan ng mga tao na tumakbo sa PCSO, kaya nga po ang napili namin na slogan ay ‘Hindi Umuurong sa Pagtulong,'” Robles said.
He said the fine print behind that slogan is precisely this reality: despite all the mandatory earmarkings and contributions that reduce PCSO’s available funds, the agency still shows up directly for every Filipino who needs it.
“May fine print ‘yan: despite all the mandatory earmarkings namin, tumutulong pa rin po kami. We could have easily said na, ‘Teka muna, dun na kayo sa PhilHealth, pwede ho kasi nandoon na ‘yung pondo namin.’ Pero that would sound like an excuse and being technical. Hindi po ganun ang kasanayan at sa tradisyon ng PCSO, hindi po ‘yan magsi-sit well,” Robles said.
He said PCSO occupies the last position in the healthcare assistance hierarchy: PhilHealth, DSWD, and DOH should be the first resort. But in practice, Filipinos have always gone directly to PCSO, and PCSO has always answered.
Robles said the slogan “Hindi Umuurong sa Pagtulong” is not mere marketing but a covenant, one that the agency intends to keep regardless of how many layers of contribution and earmarking stand between its revenues and the people it was created to serve.
