ILOILO City – Who is the real chief of the Philippine Charity Sweepstakes Office (PCSO) in Iloilo? Two women are claiming to be the branch manager.
Officer-in-charge Marie Abigail Reformina was ordered by PCSO general manager Alexander Balutan to return to her mother unit upon the assumption of the new branch manager but she has not vacated her post.
PCSO is the principal government agency for raising and providing funds for health programs, medical assistance and services, and charities of national character. It operates the lotto and regulates Small Town Lottery – a numbers game designed to force illegal gambling operations out of business.
Reformina’s mother unit is the PCSO-Visayas Accounts Management Division. She insisted on “following procedures” and waiting for “final instructions” from PCSO-Visayas department manager Federico Damole or from PCSO Branch Operations Sector assistant general manager Remeliza Jovita Gabuyo.
The newly-designated PCSO-Iloilo manager is Jeanette Lloyd. From PCSO-Capiz she reported to her new office yesterday and literally took over Reformina’s table.
But this isn’t the first time for Lloyd to lead PCSO-Iloilo. She was its chief during the administration of then President Gloria Macapagal-Arroyo.
Reformina moved to another table but still inside the branch manager’s office yesterday. She said Damole ordered a branch operation audit last month and she was yet to submit a comment on the audit team’s report.
She was given not later than April 10 to submit her comment, she said.
The branch audit was an important process to ensure accountability, explained Reformina. Lloyd, however, offered a different view. The audit could go even after the turnover of functions for branch manager, she said.
“There is a special order that you have to follow,” she reminded Reformina.
Lloyd was referring to the order from PCSO general manager Balutan regarding her Iloilo assignment and Reformina’s return to PCSO-Visayas Accounts Management Division.
Lloyd said she was supposed to transfer to Iloilo from Capiz on July 2017 yet, citing Balutan’s Special Order No. 2017-222 dated July 13, 2017.
However, the processing of her clearances got delayed, said Lloyd.
In Nov. 24, 2017 PCSO Human Resources manager C. Ramirez issued a memorandum advising Lloyd to inform the PCSO-Visayas manager that “you have already accomplished the pending tasks and complied with the turnover of accountabilities to the designated OIC Capiz Branch, and now ready to reassign to the Iloilo Branch.”
Balutan issued another special order (2018-079) on Feb. 15, 2018 directing Lloyd anew to assume the branch manager post of PCSO-Iloilo and directing Reformina again to report to PCSO-Visayas Accounts Management Division.
Ramirez, too, issued another memorandum related to special order 2018-079 informing Reformina that effective March 31, 2018 “your salary and other monetary benefits shall be transferred and included in the payroll for the Visayas department.”
Reformina said yesterday she was not able to receive or read the memorandum.
She insisted on waiting for “the final instruction from our Branch Operations Sector assistant general manager nga ma-formalize ang turnover.”/PN