The evening of Friday last week
felt like a nightmare for many persons and families looking to receive
charitable medical finance aid, as well as aspiring millionaires looking to get
rich quick. That had been the time when the announcement of President Rodrigo
Duterte declared all operations and licensed franchises of the Philippine
Charity Sweepstakes Office shut down, an order enforced over the weekend. The
charge against the agency was “widespread corruption,” but that flew over the
despairing charity beneficiaries and the everyman looking to get lucky. Even
legislators think closing PCSO entirely as overkill. Perhaps that is why the
Lottery, at least, is back.
CNN Philippines reports that President Rodrigo Duterte has dialed
back on his sweeping verbal order against the Philippine Charity Sweepstakes
Office (PCSO) by allowing their Lotto outlets to reopen. The announcement was made
Tuesday, July 30, by his spokesperson Salvador Panelo, who noted that the decision
was made under advice of the Executive Secretary Salvador Medialdea. According
to the statement read by Panelo, it has been concluded that, as Lottery games
are wholly machine operated with instantly printed tickets, corruption by human
interference was less likely to occur. There was also a humanitarian reason
added.
"As per the advice of
Executive Secretary Salvador C. Medialdea, the suspension of lotto operations
has been ordered lifted by the President," noted Panelo yesterday. He then
echoed the general public sentiment regarding this particular branch of PCSO operations,
adding, “Many people depend on lotto.” And much like the original order from
July 26 to close everything, this reopening of lottery outlets across the
country took effect immediately after announcement, though the results would not
be seen until this Wednesday.
However, just because PCSO Lotto
is back in business does not mean the rest of the agency’s activities are off
the hook. Still barred from resuming operations are the smaller-scale gaming
franchises such as the Peryahan ng Bayan and the Small-Town Lottery. This
continuing shutdown will remain in effect while the National Bureau of
Investigation (NBI) does its investigation on alleged corrupt practices within
the PCSO and its licensees. Their final fate will only be determined after the
results of the investigation are forwarded to the Office of the President.
Some 30,000 licensed outlets of
the Philippine Charity Sweepstakes Office were closed over the weekend in
pursuant to President Rodrigo Duterte’s verbal order. Thankfully, a number of
employees who lost work because of the shutdown can now get back to their
routine if they operate lotto gaming machines. Senator Sonny Angara thanked the
President for lifting the ban on lotto, noting that 40% of the revenue for the
Universal Healthcare Law comes from Lotto proceeds.
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