MANILA, Philippines - The Philippine Charity Sweepstakes Office (PCSO) has put on hold two television programs helmed by controversial film and TV director Carlo J. Caparas amid concerns of alleged irregularities in the shows’ funding.

The PCSO finds questionable the five-year contract worth 1.3 billion signed over to Caparas under the administration of then President Gloria Macapagal-Arroyo.
Over P6000,000 to P1.2 million are reportedly spent to produce each episode of the shows, "Ang Pangarap Kong Jackpot" and "Kroko," which are shown on government-owned TV stations NBN 4 and IBC-13.



PCSO chairperson Margie Juico said they aim to find out if the projects are still viable given the staggering expenditure.
In an interview with “TV Patrol” on Oct. 5, Juico detailed that the contract with Caparas; apparently, his production unit was paid even before the shows were aired.
The deal also reportedly did not go through bidding.



Former PCSO director Manolong Morato, meanwhile, insists that the government agency saved money in its deal with Caparas.

He admitted to having pushed for Caparas’ services.

“Malaki ang bagay na gawa nito [the programs]. It increased our sales,” he said.

Morato claimed that the shows helped in the marketing of the lotto, especially during the introduction of the numbers game.

Caparas is seemingly unperturbed by the accusations.

“Presyo sa industriya ‘yan. Hindi mataas ‘yan,” he maintained.