It’s too early to tell, but by just looking at its first two-month performance, Philippine Charity Sweepstakes Office General Manager Alexander Balutan said he is optimistic that the agency will hit its P60-billion target this year or even surpass it.
“Our overall sales in just two months is P10.89 billion—a 37.32-percent increase from its sales on the same months last year. In January alone, PCSO earned P5.611 billion from all its games, which is a 44.34 increase from its sales in January last year. Same goes in February, PCSO earned P5.28 billion, which is a 30.58-percent increase from its sales for the same month last year,” said Balutan.
Compared last year, PCSO only earned a total of P7.93 billion from all its games, namely Lotto (6/42, Mega Lotto 6/45, Super Lotto 6/49, Grand Lotto 6/55, and Ultra Lotto 6/58) and Digit (4, 6, 3-Digits and EZ2).
Keno, Small Town Lottery (STL), Sweepstakes, and Instant Sweepstakes Tickets are also included.
“Despite the newly imposed lottery tax, the response of our gaming public has been very positive overall. If this growth continues every month, we will definitely hit our target this year, or even more!” said Balutan.
Apart from increasing revenue collections this year, Balutan revealed that the agency is also planning to implement the rationalization plan among its employees, add more branches, and build a headquarters or corporate center for PCSO.
“Some of our employees have been here for years, but on contractual status. We see the need to really implement the rationalization plan so they can get permanent positions. We will start reviewing the status of our employees to make sure that only the competent, qualified, and well-deserved employees will earn the position or promotion. We will make sure that the selection and appointment of our employees will undergo a fair and equal process,” said Balutan.
As for the branches, the agency has 63 branches across the country with the opening of seven new branches last year in the provinces of Lanao del Norte, Catanduanes, Sultan Kudarat, Eastern Samar, Biliran, Davao del Norte, and Ifugao.
“Our target for year 2018 is to open eight new branches more. If we accomplish this, we only need to build 10 more in the coming years and before 2022, we would have established a branch in 81 provinces,” he revealed.
On having a PCSO national headquarters or corporate center, Balutan said it is about time that PCSO has its permanent home.
At present, negotiations are still ongoing with the Public-Private Partnership on the construction of the headquarters.
Apart from PCSO’s permanent home, Balutan is also looking into having a strong Information and Security Risk Management Plan and Information Security Policy, and acquiring an ISO certification for the agency.