The Philippine Charity Sweepstakes Office on Thursday said that the 19 small town lottery operators who were left out following the lifting of suspension arising from massive corruption can resume their day-to-day business for complying with the new guidelines set by the state lottery agency.
PCSO General Manager Royina Garma said the 19 STL operators, also known as Authorized Agent Corporations could resume their operation once President Rodrigo Duterte sign a new Implementing Rules and Regulations (IRR) after his return from China.
Days after the resumption of STL operations as ordered by the President, an initial draft of the new conditions set for the AACs include a cash bond deposit to the PCSO, which is equivalent to three months of the PCSO’s share in guaranteed retail receipts, aside from their existing cash bonds.
The other set of rules also states that failure by the AAC’s to fully remit in time the cash bond equivalent to three months of PCSO’s share in the guaranteed retail receipts will be automatically forfeited in favor of the PCSO without prejudice to other remedies that may be exercised by the government.
Under the new conditions, the PCSO is also requiring STL operators to submit a written undertaking, pledging that they “shall comply with their obligations under the STL agency agreement and will institute any claims, monetary or otherwise against the government and/or apply for a temporary restraining order (TRO) or injunction from any court to prevent the government from exercising its rights and prerogatives.”
The third condition set is that violations of the STL agency agreement would automatically terminates its franchise without prejudice to other remedies by the government.
Garma recently said that the PCSO should have been able to collect P1.04 billion from the cash bond of AAC’s, aside from the P23.4 million from STL operators’ shortfalls.
She said the closure of STL operations for a month has affected the agency’s income, but expressed optimism that it would recover and earn more under the new conditions from local lotteries.
“We have to sacrifice a little so that we will be able to gain more,” Garma said.
Duterte lifted the suspension of STL operations subject to new rules, a month after he shut it down due to fraud.
Findings by the Commission of Audit said the PCSO has yet to remit P8.4 billion to the government while criticizing the PCSO for waiving P1.43 billion in claims from STL agents.