LOTTO operators in Cagayan de Oro and Misamis Oriental said a new directive from the Philippine Charity Sweepstakes Office (PCSO) that bars them from selling P1 swertres lotto bet is "killing their business."

Members of the Misamis Oriental-Cagayan de Oro Lotto Agents Association (Moclaa), in a meeting Monday, September 30, warned that they all might close shop a month from now if they will not be allowed to operate the Small Town Lottery (STL) and accept swertres bets at P1.

Just this week, Moclaa president Astrid Bana said 10 more lotto outlets have decided to stop their operations after significant drop of sales for months now.

Bana said when lotto operations were lifted on July 31, a new PCSO resolution stated that lotto outlets will not be allowed to cater to any STL game nor shall they be allowed to accept bets for any STL game.

"Before, we were still able to sell swertres at P1, pero pagbalik na, pwede man pero ang minimum bet na is P10. How can we compete sa STL nga ang minimum bet is only P1?" Bana said.

From an average of P10,000 to P20,000 sales in a day, the sales now is only at P1,000 to P2,000 per day since the new order was implemented.

"If we are allowed to operate as lotto agents and at the same time STL sales supervisors/agents, we can maximize our operations to generate more revenues for the government and to fight illegal gambling," the group said in a letter to the PCSO.

Bana said they plan to exhaust all efforts, even organize a rally, to urge the officials to do something.

"Kung walay mahitabo ani karon nga bulan, ma close 'mi tanan," he said.

The group also wrote President Rodrigo Duterte and the congressmen of Cagayan de Oro and Misamis Oriental about their concern.