BOARD Member Andrew Montelibano who chairs the committee on games and amusements and Bacolod City Vice Mayor El Cid Familiaran are backing the move of President Rodrigo Duterte to shut down all gaming schemes operated, licensed, and franchised by the Philippine Charity Sweepstakes Office (PCSO).
“I support the move of the President as his way of cleansing the PCSO,” Montelibano said.
He also believes that the closure is only temporary because the President is only getting rid of corruption that has been happening in the agency most especially in the remittances of government shares particularly in the case of the Small Town Lottery (STL).
In Murcia where he was former mayor, Montelibano said, he was able to witness that the STL operator does not remit the local government unit share despite operating in the town.
He recommends that once it re-opens, the provincial government should have a representative in every draw conducted by the operator and closely monitor how much share is being remitted to the province.
In fact, he said he has inquired from the Provincial Budget Office how much share was remitted by the STL operator for the past several years.
“Government is being denied of its shares from the legal games and that in return, services for people are also being denied,” Montelibano added.
For his part, Bacolod City Vice Mayor El Cid Familiaran said President Duterte has his own information and basis to suspend the operations of all gaming schemes of PCSO.
“It’s the directive of our President and we should follow his order,” he said.
He added he believes that there’s no corruption in lotto because there’s computerized betting stations unlike in STL.
Familiaran noted the government is also studying the effect of the suspension of operations of all gaming schemes granted by PCSO since PCSO provides assistance to government programs, especially for the poor.
“Our President wants to address corruption so they should give what is due to the government,” Familiaran said.
Police Colonel Henry Biñas, director of BCPO, earlier said that BCPO intelligence operatives and all station commanders led the shutdown of gaming outlets.
He said that any person who will be caught engaging in any gambling scheme will be arrested and charged with violation of Presidential Decree 1602 as amended by Republic Act 9287 covering illegal numbers games.
“With the declaration of the President, all those who engage in these activities will be arrested. PCSO has a good intention to help the poor, but there were some people taking advantage and failed to remit the proceeds to the government, it’s high time not to support the illegal gambling,” he added
On Saturday, a total of 77 outlets of lotto, STL, Peryahan ng Bayan, and Keno in Bacolod City were shut down by Bacolod City Police Office in various areas including inside the malls.
The Negros Occidental Police Provincial Office (NOCPPO) has also been conducting closure of lotto, STL, Peryahan Ng Bayan and other PCSO games all over the province since they received the directive from PNP Chief Oscar Albayalde based on the order of the President.