THERE’S a big possibility that other illegal numbers games will thrive after President Rodrigo Duterte suspended all gaming activities of the Philippine Charity Sweepstakes Office (PCSO), including lotto, swertres, Peryahan ng Bayan and Keno, due to alleged “massive” corruption in the agency.
Filipinos were betting on masiao and jueteng even when PCSO’s numbers games were still in operation.
There’s also a big possibility that hantak, an illegal coin game, and tigbakay, an illegal cockfight, will once again be popular in barangays.
This is why Police Regional Office 7 Director Debold Sinas has ordered police personnel to monitor illegal gambling activities.
“We’re making sure illegal gambling operators don’t start operating. We have directed our men to watch out for bookies because we are expecting them. In fact, illegal swertres has been very popular. Of course, if you look at it, the public has gotten used to gambling,” Sinas said in Cebuano.
Sinas said they have not touched gambling establishments that have a permit from the Games and Amusement Board (GAB) and the Philippine Amusement Gaming Corp. (Pagcor).
Philippine National Police (PNP) Chief Oscar Albayalde issued an order to leave these establishments alone after the police shut down several bingo operators with GAB permits in the National Capital Region.
So far in Central Visayas, 551 lotto outlets; 3,482 Small Town Lottery (STL) outlets, 30 Keno machines and 1,864 Peryahan ng Bayan have been shut down.
Police continue to close PCSO-authorized gambling outlets in Cebu and Bohol.
On June 21, 2019, agents of the National Bureau of Investigation (NBI) 7 nabbed 36 individuals for operating lotto and STL outlets that were not registered with the PCSO. Another 23 were arrested on July 26.
The agency filed a case against them before the Provincial Prosecutor’s Office.
NBI assistance sought
Even before the President issued his directive, the NBI 7 has been going after illegal gambling operators ever since authorized PCSO agents sought its assistance to arrest operators of illegal swertres in the northern towns of Consolacion and Liloan, said NBI 7 Deputy Director Dominador Cimafranca.
The PCSO’s gaming activities might have been suspended, but its Cebu branch continues to release medical assistance to those in need.
Glen Jesus Rada, officer-in-charge of the PCSO Cebu Branch, said their head office instructed them to continue processing requests for medical and hospitalization assistance charged to the agency’s Charity Fund.
PCSO Cebu branch caters to 100 to 110 patients a day who receive up to P50,000 each for their hospital bills, chemotherapy drugs, dialysis, laboratory procedures, implants and other medical expenses.
The branch releases an average of P520,000 a day, according to Rada.
As for local government units, the PNP Health Service and the NBI, Rada said they will still get their share of the PCSO’s income for the days the outlets reported an income.
“As long as there are sales, they still get their share. For the days without sales, they won’t have a share for those days,” he said.
The PNP and NBI get a certain percentage of the PCSO’s income to encourage them to run after illegal gambling operators.
In an interview on Monday, July 29, 2019, Rada said it is difficult to prove corruption at the level of the gaming outlets. If any irregular activity is happening, it could be in the STL operations, he said.
“As far as lotto is concerned, it would be difficult for corruption to take place because there are machines and the sales of lotto agents would be reflected in the PCSO’s system at the end of each day. Ang sa STL lang siguro kay wala may (Maybe with the STL since there are no) machines. An outlet could have accepted P20 and declared only P10, but lisod gyud na mahibaw-an (that’s difficult to determine) unless we monitor every booth all the time,” he said.
With less than 20 personnel, Rada said it would be “impossible” for PCSO Cebu branch to monitor the more than 1,000 STL booths in Cebu round the clock. That is why they rely on law enforcement agencies to run after erring operators.
To prevent anomalies in the operations of STL, Rada said there are plans to install machines in STL booths, similar to those used in lotto outlets.
The social welfare services of the Cebu Provincial Government will also not be affected by the suspension of PCSO’s gaming activities.
“Financially able”
Provincial Social Welfare Development Office officer-in-charge Wilson Ramos said the Capitol has its own funds to help indigent groups that need medical assistance.
“We are not relying on the PCSO. Aside from that, the PCSO does not give any assistance to our indigents since what we do is we just refer them to the agency. In terms of funding, we have our own here in the Province. In terms of assistance, we can manage on our own. Number one, the Province is performing well in terms of revenues,” Ramos said in Cebuano.
Executive Order (EO) 357-A, series of 1996, approved a proportionate grant from the 30 percent Lotto Charity Fund in favor of local government units (LGU) where lotto tickets are sold.
Signed by former president Fidel Ramos, Section 2 of the EO provides that LGUs shall receive their share of the Lotto Charity Fund as follows: Towns shall get a seven percent share, which will then be divided into a five-is-to-two ratio between the municipality concerned and its province. Cities, on the other hand, will receive a five percent share from the PCSO charity fund.
Ramos said the Capitol shells out funds from its General Fund for its social welfare services.
The Province has also adapted the Department of Social Welfare and Development’s Aid to Individual in Crisis Situation Program, which is a part of the latter’s technical assistance and resource augmentation support to LGUs by providing services to the poor, marginalized and vulnerable individuals.
Ramos added that they will also continue with their referrals to PCSO under the assumption that the President’s order stressed the stoppage of gaming activities and not the other functions of the agency.
With thousands of lotto outlets ordered closed in the country, an operator appealed to Duterte to allow them to resume operations.
Lydia (not her real name) said her outlet of four years in Liloan has helped provide allowances to her working students.
“I hope the President would allow us to resume operations since we only man the machines. My suspicion is on those officials because they are usually the ones who are corrupt in the government,” she told SunStar Cebu in Cebuano.
Lydia also said she has invested more than P100,000 to have her outlet authorized.
“I bought the building for P80,000 from the first owner... P10,000 for the machine and additional costs for the application and other fees,” she said.
PCSO is a multi-billion government-owned and -controlled agency under the direct supervision of the Office of the President, tasked to generate funds for “health programs, medical assistance and services, and charities of national character.” (from AYB of Superbalita Cebu/PJB, LRC, RTF, JOB)