CLARK FREEPORT – The most progressive province in Central Luzon which was once dubbed by critics as “the Vatican of jueteng” has topped the government sanctioned Small Town Lottery (STL) revenue collection for the whole country.
A report from the Philippine Charity Sweepstakes Office (PCSO) showed that Pampanga grossed a staggering P386,352,016.75 in only a seven-month period based on the gross receipts of the STL’s average monthly sales.
Laguna is a far second with gross sales of P280,871,916.50 in the same period while landing third place is Quezon province with P227,277,301.42 gross sales.
PCSO Chair Margarita P. Juico said the STL is the “government’s way to curb jueteng” which is illegal and critics say it abets corruption among government officials and the police hierarchy including the military.
Juico, who was guest of the weekly “Balitaan” forum hosted by Capampangan In Media, Inc. (CAMI) in partnership with the Clark Development Corp. (CDC) and the Social Security System (SSS) at the Bale Balita here last Friday, said STL operators have agreed to abide by the new Presumptive Monthly Revenue Receipt (PMRR) formula which has a computation of “30 percent of the voting population multiplied by P3 per bet times 30 days.”
The product will be the PMRR, she added. In a letter to the PCSO Board and general manager Ferdinand M. Rojas II on January 28, STL operators in the country agreed that if they failed to meet the target based on the new PMRR formula, it will result in sanctions against them.
Suncove Corporation, which operates STL in Pampanga and Lake Tahoe Gaming and Amusement Corp., which operates STL in Angeles City, were among
the STL operators that signed the letter.
In the know
When asked why alleged jueteng operators are also STL operators Juico said: “actually they are.” She explained that “two years ago they opened STL to outsiders for coverage of the whole Philippines but we only got a little more than 200. So I asked why so few?
There are a lot of provinces how come there’s only 200?” Juico continued, “I even asked Ramon S. Ang (president of San Miguel Corp.) and (tobacco magnate) Sonny Dominguez if they want to get into it. But they answered we don’t know the business.”
“So you cannot get somebody coming in not knowing a thing about the business. Kasi paiikut- ikutan lang daw sila. So you end up with the same people,” Juico said. “So what you do is just look at how they operate,” she added. When asked of the probability of STL collections being diverted to jueteng, Juico confidently said, “not true” that’s why they have a PRMM which is based on how much they should be generating.
“Mayroong naka peg na quota sa kanila. They can go over their quota but they cannot go under it or sanctions will be imposed,” she said. According to PCSO Angeles City branch manager Ma. Lourdes Soliman, Lake Tahoe Amusement and Gaming Corp. filed a case against the alleged bookie operations in their area. A hearing on the case is now ongoing, she added.
“They don’t want bookies to come in,” Juico said. “When asked if she believed in STL, she said: “If it’s done right, why not.” She said when they first came in, the revenues from STL operations was very low. “So I called them (STL operators) to a meeting and told them, if they keep on remitting very low revenues, then the PCSO would just consider removing STL in favor of the lotto which turns in huge remittances.”
Juico said after that meeting STL operators increased to 300 percent their remittances. The PCSO chair said only 16 provinces have STL outlets but Pampanga has two because of Angeles City, and Zambales has also two because of Olongapo City.
Juico stressed that “we want to combat jueteng, but we only operate in 16 provinces and our critics say we are not successful, how can you be successful when your presence is only in 16 out of 82 provinces?” “Right now we cannot even expand because it’s too controversial. We would like to open more but we are still waiting for guidance especially from Malacañang,” she lamented.
Roxas
Juico said among the critics is Department of Interior and Local Governments (DILG) Secretary Mar Roxas, who is not in favor of STL. Roxas observed that STL operations were not successful in curbing jueteng in the country.
“But that is not even our role. We are not law enforcers. If there’s gambling, the DILG and the police should go after them. So if there are 16 provinces with STL, why don’t they target the other provinces which don’t have STL operations and anything that moves there is clearly illegal,” she said.
“Yun and habulin nila (They should run after those),” she said. Juico stressed that STL is doing okay. She said there is a joke that goes around about a Metro Manila mayor who was proud of the STL operation in his area when in fact there was none.
“Sabi niya, ‘Chairman, sa amin maayos ang aming STL.’ Sabi ko, mayor walang STL sa lugar mo (So chairman in our place STL is doing fi ne. I said mayor there is no STL in your area).
To that the flabbergasted mayor said ha? ‘Wala ba?’ (Don’t we have one?). Roxas and the police should go after that mayor because obviously there is only jueteng there, Juico said.
