Philippine Charity Sweepstakes Office General Manager Alexander Balutan said that before he assumed his position, Small Town Lottery operators used to only give the agency a “drop in the bucket” from their gross income.
“When we assessed the original 18 STL operators in 2016, especially in Luzon, Batangas, Laguna, Quezon, Nueva Ecija, Tarlac, Pangasinan, Pampanga, Zambales, we discovered that the average gross income of these provinces was P400 million a month, but they only give PCSO a ‘drop in the bucket’,” Balutan said.
When Balutan assumed as the agency’s general manager in 2016, there were only 18 STL operators. One of them was from Batangas City that used to give only P25 million a month.
“Pero nung binago at pinaigting natin ang IRR [Implementing Rules and Regulations], Batangas now is giving us P124 million a month. Ganun kalaki!” he said.
From P4.7 billion earnings in 2016, the agency was able to raise it to P15.7 billion in just one year—a record high in history of PCSO even in any other agency.
“Pagkatapos binabatikos pa tayo. Sinasalang pa tayo sa Congress sa mga walang basehang akusasyon,” Balutan lamented.
STL was introduced in 2006 as part of the government campaign to eradicate illegal numbers game such as jueteng, but the initial implementation was not successful.
Over the years, the agency was plagued with alleged corrupt activities that even President Rodrigo Duterte described it as the “most corrupt agency in the government.”
To help fight crime and corruption, the President appointed former uniformed men in government offices, such as Balutan as PCSO’s general manager.
Balutan, a battle-tested former marine general who earned the moniker “Mandirigma” (warrior) from his many battles and years in Mindanao, was described by the President as “berdugo.”
“My battlecry that time was touching lives, winning the peace. But up to now, we are touching lives. Dati sabi nila, ‘Mandirigma’ pampaiksi ng buhay, ngayong pampahaba na,” Balutan said.
On Feb. 2, 2017, President Duterte signed Executive Order no. 13 to strengthen the government’s fight against illegal gambling.
“Lahat ng ilegal numbers game kapag ipinasok natin sa STL, STL na ang generic name. Hindi naman tayo iba-iba. Nag-i-iba-iba ‘yung lugar ng bawat laro—‘yung socially accepted game. Sa Luzon, jueteng yan. 1 to 38 or 40; sa Visayas, masiao o pares; sa Mindanao, suwertres,” he explained.
Balutan was aware that many people were affected by the implementation of STL, especially illegal gambling operators and their local government protector, which led them to discredit STL.
“Everyone wants a piece of it. But we will not allow them to succeed,” said Balutan, referring to the STL. “We will not only walk the talk, we will do what we preach, but we will make your dreams come true.”
From P37.4-billion sales in 2016, PCSO ended 2017 with P53.9 billion sales to almost P54 billion and now with 81 STL operators.
“Asahan n’yo po ‘yan, yung perang nakakalap ng PCSO, ipakikita natin na ibabalik natin sa inyo dahil bawat taya ninyo, ‘yung 30 percent goes to charity,” said Balutan who credited the trust and confidence of the gaming public in the increase of funds.
“Ngayon may draw court na, transparent na. ‘Di gaya ng jueteng na sa ilalim lang ng puno ng manga. ‘Yung draw balls [dito] are being supervised by PCSO and Commission on Audit (COA). So malaki ang tiwala ng tao. ‘Yung pagtaya nila bukal sa loob nila dahil hindi lang sila mananalo, makakatulong pa. Bawat taya para sa kawanggawa,” added Balutan.