The Philippine Charity Sweepstakes Office resumed the draws of its EZ2, Swertres, 4-Digit and 6-Digit lotteries on Wednesday, July 31, even as it continued to draw numbers for winning combinations for its other lotto games from July 27 to 30, when they were supposed to be suspended following an order by President Rodrigo Duterte.
Meanwhile, the Presidential Anti-Corruption Commission said Friday it is investigating “13 to 20” officials of the state-run lottery agency for what President Duterte called “massive corruption.”
The officials hold technical positions that give them “control over biddings, contracts, operations, computers” in the PCSO, PACC commissioner Greco Belgica told ANC.
Also, Justice Secretary Menardo Guevarra on Friday said he is hoping the National Bureau of Investigation completes its investigation of the alleged corruption at the PCSO, particularly the anomalies in its regulated gaming activities, before the year ends.
“I think the NBI itself said they will try to finish the whole investigation before the end of the year,” Guevarra said in a press conference.
In a statement, PCSO said it resumed selling tickets and drawing numbers for its two-to-six single-digit lottery products apart from its Lotto 6/42, Mega Lotto 6/45, Super Lotto 6/49, Grand Lotto 6/55 and Ultra Lotto 6/58 games, which were the first to be lifted from suspension on Tuesday night.
As for the drawing of winning numbers even during the suspension ordered by the President, Aimee De Viterbo, manager of PCSO’s Gaming Technology Department, told GMA News Online it had to be done because players had placed bets in advance.
“A player can make a bet up to six advanced draws, so bettors have placed bets for those days [Saturday to Tuesday],” De Viterbo said.
“We could not go straight for the draws scheduled for Wednesday [July 31]. We have to draw the missed draws and suspended draws when we had no operations. That’s why we generated winning numbers for those days,” she added.
Duterte ordered the suspension of all PCSO’s gaming operations due to alleged massive corruption on Friday night, July 26. He later ordered the resumption of lotto operations as advised by Executive Secretary Salvador Medialdea because investigators found no anomalies in its operations.
More than 21,000 lotto outlets and other PCSO gaming kiosks were shut nationwide from July 27 to 30 after the President declared these as illegal due to “massive corruption.”
PCSO’s Small Town Lottery and Peryahan ng Bayan offerings remain suspended.
As for Belgica, he told ANC: “Every time a person or official has that power, he also has the power to bargain and extort money from clients.”
“Almost all” of the officials under investigation are incumbent while some are retired, he said.
The PACC is “also looking at the organizational structure to see which persons have control over money operations so that we can also include them,” he added.
A Commission on Audit report earlier showed a combined shortfall of at least P14 billion from small town lottery operations for 2017 and 2018.
“It’s possible that they [STL operators] have not been remitting or the computations are not correct,” Belgica said.
Some jueteng operators may also be “using STL as legal cover, an issue that the PNP has to address,” the official said.
Asked if the PCSO probe might cover lawmen who could be involved in illegal gambling, Belgica said: “It is possible. In the process of the investigation, whistle blowers sometimes come out to save themselves to reveal more information.
Guevarra said he is not giving the NBI a deadline as to when to finish the investigation because of the scope of the probe.
“We can’t give them a definite timeline kasi masyadong malawak ang kailangan nilang siyasatin (because of how broad the investigation will have to cover),” he stressed.
“That’s why we are giving them enough leeway,” he said.
On Monday, Guevarra issued Department Order No. 384, which told the NBI “to conduct an investigation and case build-up on the alleged graft and corrupt practices in the PCSO and its various operations, and, if evidence warrants, to file appropriate charges against persons found responsible therefor.”
Guevarra admitted he has instructed NBI Director Dante Gierran to have the agency prioritize the PCSO investigation.
“Affected as well, if not to a worse extent, are people who depend on health and medical assistance from the PCSO,” the Justice Secretary noted. “So we need to finish this investigation as soon as possible.”
Duterte has not revealed the PCSO officials allegedly involved in corruption, “but it appears to me that certain names apparently more notorious ‘ones’ were provided by the PCSO itself,” Guevarra pointed out.