The hearing was intriguing because the squabbling PCSO officers were appointed to their positions by President Duterte.

their surnames, even referring to them as “loko-lokong” generals.

When Lacson told him that his three minutes had expired (actually Ang had talked for ten minutes) and for him to go direct to the point, Ang said he was just answering the accusations levelled against him. When Lacson told him to refrain from maligning the PCSO officers, Ang said he was just retaliating because they maligned him. Lacson admonished him not to do it in the Senate hearing.

Then Ang asked Balutan to explain some operational matters like PCSO giving donations to some local governments and to Congress where there are no sick people, spending lavishly for a Christmas party, and sending to Europe a lady consultant frequently seen with Balutan. At that point Lacson cut him off and told him to address the chair, not resource persons, and that he wanted to hear other resource persons, Ang’s three minutes having turned over three times. Ang used about 11 minutes to tell his story.

Next resource person to speak was PCSO board member Sandra Cam. She said, her voice cracking and her eyes shedding tears, that her loyalty is to the country and to the President only and that all she wants is to expose corruption in PCSO under Balutan and recently resigned Jose Jorge Corpuz as part of her responsibility to ensure that charity funds are spent on the poor.

So that the public may know, she brought up the extravagant PCSO Christmas party, the policy took on a more prominent role. She suggested that Dante Ang, owner of the Manila Times, and who Cam claims to be the public relations man of Balutan, be invited to the hearing to shed light on a full-page ad supposed to have been placed in his paper by united STL operators but suspected by Cam to have been placed by Balutan. When PCSO Assistant Manager Cabuyo answered a question posed to her by Lacson, Cam butted in and said she was lying. She demanded that all this lying must be stopped. She later on suggested that Cabuyo be cited for contempt for “lying through her teeth.”

When STL operator Aguilar was asked to testify, Cam told Lacson Aguilar has not yet taken the oath. She also told Cabuyo to tell the body if Aguilar had posted the cash bond required to be an STL operator. When Lacson asked Aguilar if there was a board resolution granting him a franchise, Cam said, “Don’t lie Mr. Aguilar.”

Towards the end of the day’s proceedings, Cam asked to be placed on record Balutan’s threat to her so that if something happened to her, they know who to investigate. Before the hearing was suspended, she asked that Bong Pineda be invited to testify as he is suspected to be the financier of many STL operators.

The hearing was intriguing in that the squabbling PCSO officers — Balutan and Cam — were appointed to their PCSO positions by President Duterte. The President exonerated Balutan