NBI warns coddlers, protectors of illegal STL

THE National Bureau of Investigation (NBI) is warning government officials against coddling and supporting the illegal operation of Small-Town Lottery (STL) in Bacolod City and Negros Occidental.

Lawyer Renoir Baldovino, agent-in-charge of NBI-Bacolod, said Monday, August 8, that the illegal STL operations have been ongoing for about a month already based on the intelligence report that they have gathered.

"Your winnings are uncertain with the illegal operations," Baldovino warned, stressing that the only legal operator and franchise holder of STL in the whole province, including Bacolod City, under the Philippine Charity Sweepstakes Office (PCSO) is the Super Lucky Beaglers Inc.

The operator or financier of the illegal STL also uses the same draw results with the legal operator.

Investigation is ongoing to determine the real operator and financier of illegal STL in Bacolod City, Baldovino added.

Meanwhile, Baldovino confirmed that the two bet collectors of illegal STL operation who were apprehended last Friday were released for their temporary liberty after they posted bail.

Baldovino said suspects Reynne Magbanua Lopez and Arjens Arro Esbida, who are both from Bacolod City, posted bail amounting to P60,000 and P72,000, respectively, for their temporary liberty.

They were arrested in a raid conducted by NBI operatives in an establishment inside the Libertad Public Market in Bacolod City while collecting bets last week.