The Philippine Charity Sweepstakes Office’s small town lottery operations in the country has increased from 18 to 92, thus bringing more revenues for the government.
During a hearing conducted by the House of Representatives’ committee on appropriations on the agency's proposed P3.7-trillion national budget for 2018, PCSO chairperson Jose Jorge Corpuz told lawmakers that the expansion of STL operations was intended to turn gambling lords into “gaming lords.”
“It is converting illegal to legal, so the government will benefit. We know there are illegal activities on the ground. We encourage them to be legal,” Corpuz said.
Corpuz said the government expects P18.32 billion in 2017 in revenues from 92 STL operators, or 183 percent higher from P6.46 billion last year.
Davao City Rep. Karlo Alexei Nograles, the panel chairperson, said efforts to impose restrictions on STL must be done with the same effort to stop the operations of illegal number games.
“The ones we will allow to enter, we will help play [the game]. After we control the game, that's the time we will impose all the restrictions you want,” Corpuz told Nograles.
“We will also look at the bigger picture since we just opened the market. We will turn these gambling lords into allies of the government,” he added.
Corpuz also asked Congress to review the law mandating the agency to provide for mandatory contributions.
“[We are asking Congress to] amend the mandatory contribution because it is eating up our charity fund,” Corpuz said, adding that “40 percent of charity fund goes to mandatory contribution.”
The PCSO, being one of the government revenue-generating agencies, is mandated by special laws to provide funds to at least 27 republic acts.
The PCSO’s total retail receipts are projected to increase by 31 percent or P51.88 billion in 2017 from the P39.56 billion in 2016. The projected net receipts for 2018 is P60.9 billion, Corpuz said.
Based on its budget presentation, the PCSO said lotto continues to account for the bulk of PCSO revenues. However, it decreased by 1 percent to P28.59 billion in 2017, from P28.77 billion in 2016.
But for 2018, it is projected to increase by 8 percent to P30.9 billion.
Another PCSO game is Keno, which is expected to earn P4.95 billion in 2017 and P5.6 billion for 2018.
The PCSO’s sweepstakes’ revenue is expected at P17.5 million this year and P1 billion next year.
The PCSO Charter provides that 55 percent of net receipts shall be allocated to the payment of prizes, 30 percent to charity and social programs and 15 percent to operating expenses and capital expenditure.