PCSO: Globaltech’s complaint over ‘peryahan’ closure is ‘harassment’

The Philippine Charity Sweepstakes Office (PCSO) on Thursday slammed a complaint filed by an employee of Globaltech Mobile Online Gaming Corp. after the agency closed the company's "peryahan ng bayan" operations in Bacolod City.

PCSO general manager Alexander Balutan said PCSO executive assistant Manuel Fraginal Sr., who led the team that shut down the firm's draw centers in Bacolod last April, received a subpoena for “Alarm and Scandal and Grave Coercion" on May 15.

The Prosecutor’s Office in Bacolod City issued the subpoena over a complaint filed by Lito Estember, officer-in-charge of Globaltech’s branch office.

In his statement, the PCSO chief Balutan said the move was "plainly harassment."

“The peryahan being operated by Globaltech in some parts of the country is illegal and must be closed," Balutan said.

He added that the PCSO "has not authorized any other entity to operate peryahan" and that any operation of peryahan is considered "unauthorized and illegal."

The PCSO alleged that Estember was among 24 suspects arrested in an anti-illegal gambling operation conducted in the cities of Bacolod and Escalante.

Fraginal said he was "only doing his job" by going after illegal gambling activities, including peryahan operations.

"Ang problema, hindi sila gumagalaw. E paano mapapataas ang revenue collection natin sa pamamagitan ng ating Small Town Lottery at iba pang lottery games sa lugar na ‘yan kung may iligal namang peryahan at iba pa?" he said.

Balutan also stressed that such operations "continue to frustrate the goal of PCSO to produce more revenues through its various lottery games to fund the government’s charity services especially medical assistance to poor Filipinos."

The PCSO terminated Globaltech’s Deed of Authority to operate peryahan for various violations in 2016 and said it owes the sweepstakes office an estimated P100 million of unremitted revenues.

Globaltech filed a complaint for the issuance of a writ of preliminary injunction later junked by the Pasig City Regional Trial Court (RTC) in October 2017.

GMA News Online has reached out to Globaltech for comment. — Margaret Claire Layug/BM, GMA News