MANILA, Philippines – President Ferdinand Marcos Jr’s pick to head the Philippine Charity Sweepstakes Office has experience both in running the government’s light rail transit and serving as liaison between a religious group and the public. 

Mel Robles, Press Secretary Trixie Cruz-Angeles announced on Thursday, July 14, had been nominated by the President to be general manager of the agency, which helps raise funds for the government’s health programs and medical services, among others. 

“[Robles] is credited with having been the only administrator to have made that agency profitable,” noted Angeles. 

Robles was also previously a member of the board of the Intercontinental Broadcast Corporation, a media organization under the now-defunct Presidential Communications Operations Office (PCOO). Under his administration, Marcos abolished the PCOO and placed the IBC under the Office of the Press Secretary, which is headed by Angeles. 

Robles is also a businessman and owns a rehabilitation facility. 

Robles was appointed chief of the Light Rail Transit Authority (LRTA) under the administration of former president Gloria Macapagal Arroyo, who is a member of the ruling political coalition which supported Marcos.  

Robles’ stint as LRTA was not exactly smooth-sailing. In 2017, he was ordered arrested by the anti-graft court Sandiganbayan over alleged anomalies in the implementation of a 2009 janitorial contract. 

Robles and his co-accused were acquitted and the hold departure orders against them lifted according to a Sandiganbayan decision promulgated in November 2019. 

Before he joined the government, Robles was spokesperson for Mike Velarde, the head of the Catholic charismatic movement El Shaddai. He was also an official of the party-list Buhay Hayaan Yumabong (BUHAY), alongside its representative in the 18th Congress, Deputy Speaker Lito Atienza. 

The Velardes recently cut ties with BUHAY, over disagreements on who the party would field in the 2022 polls. A Manila Bulletin report noted that Robles was a “staunch [supporter]…of former Senator Ferdinand Marcos Jr.” Atienza, meanwhile, was the running mate of former senator and losing presidential aspirant Manny Pacquiao. 

Robles replaced Anselmo Simeon P. Pinili, the current chairperson and ad interim general manager of PCSO. – Rappler.com