PCSO: STL to continue despite Alvarez’s charge it’s illegal

The Philippine Charity Sweepstakes Office (PCSO) will not stop its small-town lottery (STL) operations despite House Speaker Pantaleon Alvarez's remarks that it was illegal.

"We respect the opinion of House Speaker Alvarez, but we request that he reconsider whose side he's on—the Filipino people who will benefit from the government's increase in charity services and the opportunity to provide employment, or the illegal gambling operators and those who coddle them," PCSO General Manager Alexander Balutan said in a statement on Tuesday.

Balutan said the PCSO was under the Office of the President and therefore would take its guidance and direction from the president.

Alvarez earlier told officials of the PCSO to stop STL or face charges before the Office of the Ombudsman, adding that STL was being used to justify jueteng operations.

He said the agency’s charter only authorized them to operate lottery “on a national scale" and STL did not fall under this category.

Meanwhile, Balutan also voiced concerns over the possible loss of employment if the STL stopped its operations.

He said that the move would lead to half a million Filipinos losing their jobs.

Data from PCSO said 18 authorized agent corporations (AACs) have been providing work for almost 173,000 former kubradors and kabos.

Meanwhile, PCSO Chairman Jorge Corpuz earlier noted that if STL will be stopped, "the government is poised to lose almost P28 billion in revenue."

He said with STL, the agency was able to pay P3.8 billion of taxes that the 18 corporations owed the Bureau of Internal Revenue. —Anna Felicia Bajo/NB, GMA News