The Games and Amusements Committee of the House of Representatives is investigating reports that officials of the  Philippine Charity Sweepstakes Office (PCSO) have been extending hospital aid to their affluent relatives and friends.

Dasmarinas City Rep. Elpidio Barzaga Jr., the committee chairman, said this irregular practice takes away financial assistance meant by the PCSO for indigent patients.

“I have information that some members of the PCSO board have been giving financial aid of at least P200,000 each to their affluent relatives and friends who get sick,” said Barzaga, who is also the vice president for external affairs of the National Unity Party (NUP).

Some of these well-to-do patients, he said, had been confined at an expensive private hospital in Quezon City.

The Barzaga committee has subpoenaed the records of the PCSO, including financial assistance of at least P200,000 and its recipients,  along with the list of patients confined in expensive hospitals.

PCSO board chairman Erineo Maliksi told the committee during a recent hearing that  the PCSO plans to allocate at least P1 billion  a year as financial aid for poor patients seeking aid in paying their medical bills.