LUCENA CITY鈥擜 Small Town Lottery (STL) franchise holder in Quezon province has denied a National Bureau of Investigation report that operators of the Philippine Charity Sweepstakes Office (PCSO)-sponsored lottery have been defrauding the government.
鈥淭hat report was baseless and unfair,鈥� Jose Gonzales, operations manager of Pirouette Corp., the licensed STL operator in Quezon, said on Wednesday.
Gonzales stressed that Pirouette had been diligently paying taxes due the government. 鈥淥ur record is open for scrutiny and we are ready to face any investigation to clear this issue.鈥澛�
He said Pirouette鈥檚 鈥渙peration has been aboveboard and being regularly subjected to examinations by concerned government agencies, like the PCSO and the COA (Commission on Audit).鈥�
According to the NBI report, STL operators have defrauded the government of at least P50 billion yearly through nondeclaration of actual sales.
The NBI based its report on investigations of selected STL operations in the provinces of Bulacan, Zambales, Olongapo, Laguna, Batangas, Nueva Ecija and Quezon.
The NBI finding was confirmed by PCSO Chair Erineo 鈥淎yong鈥澛� Maliksi, who said he had asked the agency to investigate STL operations following reports that some franchise holders were using their licenses to conduct jueteng operations and not declaring actual sales to the PCSO.
Maliksi said the PCSO had estimated that the potential income of all illegal games, including the illegal declaration from STL, could reach P100 billion a year.
Lady Elaine Gatdula, head of PCSO-Quezon, noted that Pirouette had no records of illegal practices in its operations.
Presumptive sale exceeded
鈥淎s a matter of fact, Pirouette often surpassed the presumptive sale target,鈥� 聺said Gatdula, who was assigned to Quezon two years ago.
Presumptive sale is the sales target agreed upon by both the PCSO and STL operator for a specific period based on the historical sales index, she said.
Gatdula also rebutted the NBI report that STL draws were being held without the personal supervision of a PCSO representative. 鈥淥ur representative is always present in every draw.鈥�
STL draws are held three times a day in the Pirouette office in downtown Lucena City. The draw is open to the public, according to her.
鈥淣o bet collector will allow cheating of the draw. We will lose the trust of the betting public if we allow that,鈥澛� Mario de los Reyes, an STL bet collector in Lucena, told the Inquirer.
STL bookies
Gonzales said legitimate STL operators were actually losing out to 鈥渋llegal STL bookies鈥� of underground gambling operators, who ride on the winning STL numbers.
鈥淭hat鈥檚 the common complaint of STL operators. And we鈥檙e helpless on how to combat it,鈥� he said.
Gatdula confirmed the operation of STL bookies, which she said聽 affected the STL sales index. 鈥淭hat鈥檚 the reason we鈥檝e been demanding that the police and other law enforcement agencies聽 stop this unlawful operation,鈥澛� she said.
Senior Supt. Ronaldo Genaro Ylagan, Quezon police chief, said policemen had been conducting nonstop operations against bookies.
No more jueteng
鈥淭here are no more jueteng operations in Quezon. What we鈥檝e been fighting is the operations of bookies,鈥� Ylagan he said
He disclosed that some arrested 鈥渂ookies鈥澛� operators were 鈥渒abo鈥澛� (bet collectors鈥� supervisor) of the legitimate STL operator.
鈥淭he legitimate STL operator was not aware of the hanky-panky of their employees. The suspects were cheating their employers,鈥澛� Ylagan said.
Bookies often聽 maintain unauthorized STL betting stations in remote areas to avoid the authorities and employ bet collectors who use legitimate lottery paraphernalia.
The bookies no longer conduct draws but are just adopting the winning combination of the legal STL.
Legitimate STL bet collectors were being lured by bookies聺 operators to submit their collections to the illegal outlet in exchange for a higher commission.
Lopez town Mayor Isaias Ubana II said the local government had been regularly receiving the regular monthly tax share from STL operations.
鈥淪ometimes it鈥檚 big, sometimes small. It depends upon the ups and downs of the bet collection,鈥� Ubana said in a phone interview.
He said the money was being spent as assistance to the poor residents of the town.
鈥淲e welcome the operation of STL because it is the source of lawful income of some of my people, who were formerly running from the law as jueteng collectors,鈥澛� Ubana said.