CITY OF SAN FERNANDO – At least 19 Small-Town Lottery (STL) operators in the country, including Suncove Corp. in Pampanga, will start using serialized bet tickets once the board of the Philippine Charity Sweepstakes Office, the game’s franchise-holder, approves the measure that aims to increase government’s income and kill the illegal numbers game jueteng.
The proposal to introduce the use of STL tickets with security features has been submitted to the PCSO board, according to the agency’s STL project director Romualdo QuiHones.
“This one is similar to sweepstakes tickets. It has patented fonts, with perforated sheets. These come in triplicate and with serial numbers,” QuiHones said.
The tickets, he said, will be printed solely by the PCSO’s security unit.
A prototype of the tickets has been shown to Pampanga Gov. Eddie Panlilio.
The STL project management unit proposed the measure because online betting and the use of hand-held ticketing terminals, through which thermal receipts should be issued, had both not succeeded.
“The sales agents found them to be too technical,” QuiHones said.
The plan is part of PCSO’s efforts to “improve the STL system to be able to give more income to the national government’s coffers especially to charity fund,” he explained.
“We mean business that’s why we have been addressing the concerns of [local officials and our agent-corporations]. We cannot tolerate shenanigans,” he added.
The new ticket is being introduced more than three years after the PCSO began the test run of STL in February 2006.
In Pampanga, pairs of number bets chosen from 1 to 40 are written on two-inch wide, 14-inch long sheets called papelitos (paper). The yellow sheet comes in yellow color, printed with “PCSO.” The second sheet is a blank white paper. Both sheets do not bear serial numbers or other security marks, making them easy to reproduce.
This system, which includes the non-issuance of an official thermal receipt—that like the handheld terminals is required in the permit to run STL—makes the proceeds and income hard to account, Panlilio said.
Because of the close similarities between STL and jueteng, Pampanga Auxiliary Bishop Pablo Virgilio David had said that STL serves as the legal cover of jueteng.
The PCSO said the Suncove Corp., the STL agent-corporation in Pampanga, remitted P31.9 million to the Bureau of Internal Revenue, P58.8 million to 21 towns and city, P29.4 million to the provincial government, P14.7 million to four legislative districts, P29.4 million to the police and P55.9 million to the PCSO charity fund from 2006 to 2008.
P500-M MONTHLY
Panlilio believed more money should have entered the public coffers if the STL system in the collection of bets, remittance and the three draws daily were closely regulated.
Panlilio estimated that if bets collected in every barangay amounted to a low of P10,000 per draw, that could generate in P5.1 million from the 510 villages in the province.
Three draws daily can amount to P15.3 million or P459 million in 30 days, he said.
“Granting this is STL and not jueteng, government and its agencies should get more [income] from STL. To me, the moral dimensions of gambling are more important to address because in a culture of gambling, the values for hard work and industry are diminished or lost,” Panlilio said.
In Monday’s meeting with the governor, QuiHones presented resolutions to prove the legality of Suncove’s operations.
Suncove obtained permits based on Resolution No. 63 of the Pampanga Mayors’ League in 2006. The PML president then was Lubao Mayor Dennis Pineda, son of suspected jueteng lord Rodolfo “Bong” Pineda.
Eder Dizon, not the elder Pineda, is listed as the president of Suncove, which has office in Iloilo City, according to documents. The PCSO board granted Suncove also an authority to conduct test run in 2006, renewing that in 2008.
Also on Monday, Panlilio held back his proposal to recommend the suspension of Suncove operations amid the “loopholes” in the system.
“We have no quorum [in the council]. All the mayors are absent. I hope they show sincerity in addressing this issue. Perhaps they’re receiving [money] from bookies or whatever?” he said.
PML vice president and Bacolor Mayor Romeo Dungca said he did not know about the Wednesday meeting of the council. The governor said all mayors were informed about the meeting. All the chiefs of police came, led by provincial director Senior Supt. Gil Lebin.
The proposal to introduce the use of STL tickets with security features has been submitted to the PCSO board, according to the agency’s STL project director Romualdo QuiHones.
“This one is similar to sweepstakes tickets. It has patented fonts, with perforated sheets. These come in triplicate and with serial numbers,” QuiHones said.
The tickets, he said, will be printed solely by the PCSO’s security unit.
A prototype of the tickets has been shown to Pampanga Gov. Eddie Panlilio.
The STL project management unit proposed the measure because online betting and the use of hand-held ticketing terminals, through which thermal receipts should be issued, had both not succeeded.
“The sales agents found them to be too technical,” QuiHones said.
The plan is part of PCSO’s efforts to “improve the STL system to be able to give more income to the national government’s coffers especially to charity fund,” he explained.
“We mean business that’s why we have been addressing the concerns of [local officials and our agent-corporations]. We cannot tolerate shenanigans,” he added.
The new ticket is being introduced more than three years after the PCSO began the test run of STL in February 2006.
In Pampanga, pairs of number bets chosen from 1 to 40 are written on two-inch wide, 14-inch long sheets called papelitos (paper). The yellow sheet comes in yellow color, printed with “PCSO.” The second sheet is a blank white paper. Both sheets do not bear serial numbers or other security marks, making them easy to reproduce.
This system, which includes the non-issuance of an official thermal receipt—that like the handheld terminals is required in the permit to run STL—makes the proceeds and income hard to account, Panlilio said.
Because of the close similarities between STL and jueteng, Pampanga Auxiliary Bishop Pablo Virgilio David had said that STL serves as the legal cover of jueteng.
The PCSO said the Suncove Corp., the STL agent-corporation in Pampanga, remitted P31.9 million to the Bureau of Internal Revenue, P58.8 million to 21 towns and city, P29.4 million to the provincial government, P14.7 million to four legislative districts, P29.4 million to the police and P55.9 million to the PCSO charity fund from 2006 to 2008.
P500-M MONTHLY
Panlilio believed more money should have entered the public coffers if the STL system in the collection of bets, remittance and the three draws daily were closely regulated.
Panlilio estimated that if bets collected in every barangay amounted to a low of P10,000 per draw, that could generate in P5.1 million from the 510 villages in the province.
Three draws daily can amount to P15.3 million or P459 million in 30 days, he said.
“Granting this is STL and not jueteng, government and its agencies should get more [income] from STL. To me, the moral dimensions of gambling are more important to address because in a culture of gambling, the values for hard work and industry are diminished or lost,” Panlilio said.
In Monday’s meeting with the governor, QuiHones presented resolutions to prove the legality of Suncove’s operations.
Suncove obtained permits based on Resolution No. 63 of the Pampanga Mayors’ League in 2006. The PML president then was Lubao Mayor Dennis Pineda, son of suspected jueteng lord Rodolfo “Bong” Pineda.
Eder Dizon, not the elder Pineda, is listed as the president of Suncove, which has office in Iloilo City, according to documents. The PCSO board granted Suncove also an authority to conduct test run in 2006, renewing that in 2008.
Also on Monday, Panlilio held back his proposal to recommend the suspension of Suncove operations amid the “loopholes” in the system.
“We have no quorum [in the council]. All the mayors are absent. I hope they show sincerity in addressing this issue. Perhaps they’re receiving [money] from bookies or whatever?” he said.
PML vice president and Bacolor Mayor Romeo Dungca said he did not know about the Wednesday meeting of the council. The governor said all mayors were informed about the meeting. All the chiefs of police came, led by provincial director Senior Supt. Gil Lebin.
