The Philippine Charity Sweepstakes Office (PCSO) on Monday said it invites members of the Senate Committee on Games and Amusements to visit the agency and observe how the lotto draws were being conducted and come up with an objective conclusion and recommendations on the matter.
This developed as Senator Raffy Tulfo said they will look into the legitimacy of all lotto jackpot winners during the continuation of the Senate hearing of the Committee on Ways and Means involving the PCSO.
In a related development, Cagayan de Oro City Rep. Rufus Rodriguez urged
PCSO general manager Melquiades Robles to resign for “failing to protect the young, especially children, from the agency’s e-lotto or online lotto project.”
Robles expressed confidence that their lottery processes were beyond reproach, and the best way to erase any doubts about the integrity of results is for the senators to see for themselves how the draws were being conducted.
“The PCSO for the past 89 years has kept its integrity beyond question. And we are committed to following that unsullied reputation,” Robles said.
Robles even asked the senators to conduct unannounced inspection to remove any doubts about the integrity of the lottery operations.
In invitation-letter dated January 22, Robles urged the senators to witness the entire lotto draw process —from the pre-draw preparations to the actual draw itself, for any lotto draw on any day, even without prior notice” in the interest of transparency.
However, Robles admitted in a Senate inquiry last week that the viral photo of a recent ₱43-million lotto jackpot winner was poorly edited.
He claimed that it was edited to conceal the identity of the winner which raised doubts and suspicions from the public.
Robles also admitted that last December, in example, the PCSO increased the jackpot money of all lotto games.
PCSO added 100 million each to the 6/42 and 6/45 draws and half billion each to 6/49, 6/55 and 6/58 draws from their prize fund reserve.
Tulfo said this means the total amount transferred from the prize fund reserve to jackpot money for said lottery games reached ₱1.7 billion.
Tulfo wanted to study the possibility of banning PCSO from adding jackpot money from their prize fund reserve for their lottery.
Tulfo further stated: “It is sad that this 1.7 billion went to only a few people,” he said. The senator also said it was also questionable that the winners in this jackpot .
This was the same view aired by netizens. “It is accessible to anyone, even to young children whose welfare might be affected,” Rodriguez said.
He said e-lotto opens gambling to minors who have mobile phones, computers and similar devices.
“It exposes them to the evils of gambling and erodes moral values,” he said. T
he House of Representatives committee
on games and amusement chaired by Cavite Rep. Antonio Ferrer has endorsed a bill prohibiting online lotto. Rodriguez is the bill’s principal author and Representatives Augustina Dominique Pancho of Bulacan and Gus Tambunting of Parañaque co-authored House Bill No. 9283 of Rodriguez.
The measure seeks to ban “online placing of bets through mobile phones, laptops, tablets, personal computers, and other similar gadgets for all lotto games.”
Inspite of the approval of the Rodriguez bill by the House Committee, Robles in defiance of the Committee proceeded to implement the E-lotto test run.
Rodriguez pointed out that in launching online lotto, the PCSO disregarded the recommendations of the Office of the Government Corporate Counsel (OGCC), including the requirement for the agency to secure the approval of the Office of the President. He pointed out that the OGCC recommended limiting the e-lotto test run to six months instead of one year and that the 14-percent commission from e-lotto sales of the service provider must not be paid during the test run.
“Robles likewise has not secured approval of the E-lotto From President Marcos. I believe that the President will not allow this online lotto because this will be very detrimental to our children and the Filipino youth!”, Rodriguez said.
“The PCSO ignored the three OGCC recommendations and they must face legal sanctions accordingly,” he added.
Rodriguez said the PCSO should focus on its principal mandate, which is charity work, using income from its traditional revenue-raising projects, instead of promoting various forms of gambling.
“We have enough gambling in our country, legal and illegal. We should not add to it because gambling destroys our values, including the value of hard work, endangers the welfare of children and ruins the lives of many people,” he said.