The Market Monitor Minding the Nation's Business
State-owned lottery firm Philippine Charity Sweepstakes Office (PCSO) will introduce a new and improved small town lottery (STL) scheme as part of the government’s campaign against illegal gambling.
When the government launches its all-out war against illegal gambling next year, all number games outside STL will be considered illegal.
PCSO Chairman Jose Jorge said PCSO officials have met with gambling lords from all over the country who assured the agency that they will stop their illegal activities and support STL. Presently, there are 224 applicants for the new STL. These applicants—including popular gambling lords like Charlie “Atong” Ang—are currently undergoing strict evaluation by the PCSO.
“If you continue to be in illegal gambling despite the warning of the President to stop it, you will be in a very serious trouble… Just look at the government’s campaign against illegal drugs,” he said. Corpuz, who took over the reins in PCSO last September, said STL’s coverage of operations will be expanding from the current 18 areas to 64 areas nationwide.
Annual revenue for PCSO is expected to be at P18 billion.In 2006, the PCSO launched the STL in a bid to combat jueteng and other illegal numbers games in the country.
It generated P4.7 billion in 2014, P4.794 billion in 2015, and P1.231 billion in the first quarter of this year.
STL, however, was used by gambling lords for their illegal operations.
This was also the reason why some areas did not allow STL operations in their localities. There will be a new set of implementing rules and regulations (IRR) for the new STL, which will help PCSO effectively defeat all types of illegal numbers games by giving illegal gambling operators the opportunity to partner with the charity agency.
The new system will legalize the existing illegal numbers games in the regions: jueteng in Luzon, Masiao and Swertres in Visayas and Mindanao. For an applicant to pass evaluation, the organization needs to be 100 percent Filipino, or a cooperative whose primary purpose is to conduct STL. It must also have adequate personnel to efficiently carry out the operation. Required authorized capital stock is P50 million, with a minimum paid-up capital of P15 million. The PCSO board has set a presumptive monthly retail receipt (PMRR) that all STL operators or authorized agent corporations (ACC) must follow. Corpuz is confident that the local government units will support the new STL because they will also receive additional revenue from it, on top of the income they are getting from the lotto.
The new STL allows for the following monthly allocation: cities and municipalities, 3 percent; congressional district, .25 percent; provincial government, .75 percent, and PNP, 2.5 percent. From PNP’s share, the national headquarters would get .40 percent; the Police Regional Office (PRO) gets .40 percent; the Police Provincial Office (PPO) receives 60 percent; the Criminal Investigation and Detection Group (CIDG) – National will get .20 percent; the regional office gets .20 percent; and the provincial office .10 percent. The new STL is set to be launched nationwide in December 2016 and implemented in 2017.