The Philippine Charity Sweepstakes Office (PCSO) said Monday it posted a banner year in 2023, with total gaming revenues reaching a record P61.45 billion.
PCSO general manager and vice chairman of the board Melquaides Robles said their intensified efforts to maximize government revenues from the lotto, digital games and small town lottery (STL) games bore fruit last year with both the lotto games and the STL pulling in revenues of P31.37 billion and P29.73 billion, respectively.
The Instant Sweepstakes drew in revenues of P344.24 million.
It said the lotto games, the STL and the Instant Sweepstakes pulled in a total of P61.45 billion in 2023, or about 7 percent higher than the total gaming revenues for 2022 of P57.47 billion.
The PCSO said that in 2022, it posted revenues of P27.91 billion from the lotto games, P28.42 billion from the STL games, P54.46 million from the discontinued Keno games and P1.06 billion from the Instant Sweepstakes games, for a total of P57.47 billion.
Robles said that they were able to increase their total revenues by about P4 billion.
He said total gaming revenues in 2023 was also almost 40 percent higher than the pre-pandemic total gaming revenues of P44.02 billion in 2019, reflecting a full recovery of the PCSO’s gaming operations and profitability of the lotto and STL games.
“The banner revenue performance of our lotto and STL games means a higher allocation for the PCSO’s Charity Fund,” Robles said.
The PCSO charter mandates a 70:30 ratio of allocation of its revenues for the PCSO Charity Fund, where 70 percent goes to the prize and operational fund, and 30 percent going to the Charity Fund.
Robles said at P61.45 billion gaming revenues for 2023, the PCSO could allocate a hefty P18.4 billion for the 2024 Charity Fund.