A Visayan lawmaker on Wednesday threatened to cite in contempt Philippine Charity Sweepstakes Office Director Sandra Cam owing to her allegations that the Small Town Lottery operations are being used by gambling lords as a “front” for illegal gambling, and that the solon himself was allegedly into it.
At a hearing conducted by the House of Representatives committee on games and amusements, Negros Oriental Mindoro Rep. Arnulfo Teves said Cam must substantiate her claims, even as he cried foul over the accusation that the PCSO was shortchanging the revenues supposedly earned from the STL due to illegal numbers game such as jueteng.
Cam said an estimated P500 million has not been declared by STL operators as their income since 2005.
“I move that she submit proof to her claims to this committee. She must be able to provide this committee substantial evidence on the P500 million. It is hard to make accusations without having any proof of the claim. So I move that Director Sandra submit to this committee proof of her claim,” Teves said.
Cam also singled out Teves and accused him of running an STL operation in his province.
But Teves said he will resign if Cam is able to come up with evidence to back up her clams. Otherwise, Cam should be the one to resign for peddling false accusations, the solon said.
“I was accused of being an operator, then Sandra [Cam] must be able to submit before this committee evidence that will prove that I am. If she does, and is able to substantiate her claims, then I will resign. If not, she must resign as director of the PCSO,” Teves said.
“No problem, I will call that,” Cam responded to Teves’ dare.
“Please submit to this committee legal documents [which] indeed prove that I am the operator of Negros Oriental, if my name is listed as one of the incorporators of STL,” Teves said.
Teves earlier disagreed with the allegation that STL agents were being used as jueteng fronts by illegal gamblers.
Unless they are earning more than their expected sales, he said using jueteng as STL fronts will only destroy their reputation.