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File photo of former PCSO board member Sandra Cam.
The Philippine STAR / Russell Palma
MANILA, Philippines — Former Philippine Charity Sweepstakes Office (PCSO) board member Sandra Cam died on Thursday, April 10, according to her son Marco Martin.
In a Facebook post, Martin announced the passing of his 64-year-old mother and recounted the number of awards she earned as a public servant.
He described her as a “resilient single mother” who raised three sons now carrying on her legacy of “serving the Filipino people.”
He also remembered her as a “faithful woman of God” with “dauntless courage, a bold spirit and unwavering dedication” to the truth. Martin said that being a PCSO board member was his mother’s last role in public service.
Who was Sandra Cam?
In 2023, the mother and son were acquitted of murder charges over the killing of former Batuan, Masbate Vice Mayor Charlie Yuson III in 2019 due to lack of evidence.
Before her acquittal, Cam was hospitalized in 2022 for treatment of a medical condition while she was under police custody as a murder suspect. She surrendered in 2021 after a warrant was issued.
In 2019, Cam also sought former President Rodrigo Duterte’s help to remove her from the charity agency’s board due to alleged corruption within the PCSO.
She called for an audit and legislative inquiry into the PCSO’s Christmas party in 2017 after discovering it had a P9.8 million budget, describing the event as “grandiose” and “lavish” — a party she did not attend in protest.
Duterte supporter. A staunch supporter of former president Rodrigo Duterte, Cam believed in his efforts against corruption and backed him during his presidential campaign in 2016.
Duterte also defended his decision to appoint Cam at the PCSO even after reports came out in 2017 that she scolded an airport staff who asked for her government ID and denied her access to the VIP lounge.
Cam also ran for senator in the 2016 elections, vowing to advocate for overseas Filipino workers, defend the country’s sovereignty over the West Philippine Sea and push for a whistleblower protection law. She, however, did not make the cut.
While several bills have been filed in Congress, no whistleblower protection law has been passed to date. Only administrative rules from the Office of the Ombudsman and a whistleblower policy drafted by the Securities and Exchange Commission in 2024 are currently in place.
Whistleblower. Cam made national headlines as a whistleblower in a 2005 Senate probe, where she claimed she collected money from jueteng lords and delivered it to Juan Miguel “Mikey” Arroyo and the late Ignacio “Iggy” Arroyo.
Mikey is the son of former president and current Rep. Gloria Macapagal Arroyo (Pampanga, 2nd District), while Iggy was the brother of Mikey’s father.
Cam’s son said a wake will be held at St. Peter Chapels in Parañaque City starting Friday, April 11, at 6 p.m.
