Lacson agrees with Duterte on 'massive corruption' at PCSO

Senator Panfilo Lacson on Sunday concurred with President Rodrigo Duterte's allegation that the Philippine Charity Sweepstakes Office is marred by massive corruption, forcing the chief executive to order all its gaming operations closed.

In a statement, the senator said billions of pesos from the gaming proceeds go into the pockets of government, police, and PCSO officials.

"When the regular jueteng collections of at least P200 million a day or PhP73 billion a year in the NCR, CAR and Regions 1 to 5 alone translate to a mere P4 billion income for the PCSO from Small Town Lottery (STL) operations, a big chunk of which is not even in cash remittances but recorded as collectibles, we do not need an Albert Einstein to figure out how much goes to the individual pockets of STL franchise holders, corrupt politicians, policemen and PCSO officials," Lacson said.

He lamented, "No matter how many congressional hearings are conducted, the palms of these people continue to be greased by gambling money."

"The fact is, illegal jueteng merely masquerades as legitimate STL operations, 7 days a week, without fail, whose "kubrador" are armed with PCSO IDs to avoid arrest by the police who may be co-opted anyways," he added.

President Duterte last Friday ordered a halt to all gaming operations with franchises, licenses or permits granted by the PCSO, citing corruption.

The order will take effect Saturday, July 27, he said.

"I have today ordered the closure, the stoppage of all gaming schemes of whatever nature that got franchises to do so from PCSO. . . . The ground is massive corruption," Duterte said in a video message aired by the Presidential Communications Operations Office.

"Lahat ng laro ng lotto, STL (Small Town Lottery), Peryahan ng Bayan, or whatever nature, there's one yung gambling machine, Keno,  yung gambling that got the franchise from PCSO are as of today, suspended or terminated because of massive corruption," he added.

Duterte also ordered the Philippine National Police and the Armed Forces of the Philippines "to arrest anybody . . . engaged with gambling activities in connection with franchises granted by PCSO."

On Saturday, the PNP closed some 2,000 lotto, STL outlets, and the crackdown continues. —Joviland Rita/LBG, GMA News