PCSO loses 30% STL earnings due to illegal gambling ops

The Philippine Charity Sweepstakes Office (PCSO) has been losing up to 30 percent of its potential income from Small Town Lottery (STL) due to continued operation of illegal gambling in some provinces, the state lottery agency said Friday.

In a statement, the PCSO said illegal gambling is particularly rampant in the provinces of Laguna, Albay, Batangas, Bulacan, Negros Occidental and Pangasinan.

The statement came days after the state lottery agency called on police to take solid action against illegal gambling syndicates or legitimate STL operators running illegal bookies.

"We have to face the illegal gambling crisis, and doable our efforts in the conduct of operations against illegal gambling to arrest syndicates, particularly those who are using STL as a front to cover their illegal business,” PCSO General Manager Alexander Balutan said.

Several Authorized Agent Corporations (AACs) complained during a Senate hearing on Tuesday that illegal gambling shrinks government revenue by taking business away from their legitimate STL operations.

Illegal operations robbed 30 percent of all potential collections from 72 out of 92 operating and approved AACs nationwide, shrinking profits to P8.8 billion from January to August this year, the PCSO said.

An AAC that had its profits cut due to illegal gambling is Lucky V Prime Enterprises Corporation, an AAC in Albay that only met 70 percent of its Presumptive Monthly Retail Receipts (PMMR) obligations in August.

Similar cases occurred in Batangas, Bulacan, Negros Occidental, and Laguna, where Ramloid Corporation lost P1.2 million daily because of illegal gambling.

Pangasinan AAC Go Golden Rapid Gaming Corp. also could not fully remit its Presumptive Monthly Retail Receipts obligations because of "guerilla" operations of other illegal numbers game such as jueteng, it added. —Rie Takumi/KBK, GMA New