In a statement on Friday, PCSO chairman Jose Jorge Corpuz said this is the main reason its Authorized Agent Corporations (AACs) are having a difficult time in meeting their Presumptive Monthly Retail Receipts (PMMR) obligations which is affecting government revenues.
The PMMR is a pledged monthly remittance by the AACs and a prerequisite for approval of their authorization.
During a recent Senate hearing on the proposed creation of the Philippine Charity Office (PCO), some AACs complained that illegal gambling continues to flourish in their areas of operation and this prevents them from fully meeting their obligations to the government.
Corpuz told committee chair Senator Panfilo Lacson that as of August, 72 AACs are currently operating all over the country out of 92 approved and that has resulted in a revenue increase of P8.8 billion from January to August this year or an increase of 166 percent.
“We will soon reach the momentum and then from there, the PCSO will review their performance and insists on what is due to the government,” Corpuz said, adding that they are expecting the remaining 20 more AACs to operate before the year ends.
However, about 30 percent of potential collections is lost to illegal gambling, Corpuz said.
One of the AACs, Ramloid Corp., which operates in Laguna, reported that it collects P4 million daily from STL but loses about P1.2 million to illegal gambling.
Lucky V Prime Enterprises Corp., an AAC from Albay, is supposed to remit to PCSO P2.5 million daily and they were able to meet 70 percent of their PMMR last August but they complained that the remaining 30 percent may have been lost to illegal gambling.
The case was almost the same in the provinces of Batangas, Bulacan, Negros Occidental and Pangasinan.
“About 30 percent on the average ang nawawala na dapat nareremit sa PCSO,” Lacson learned.
Guerilla operations
Go Golden Rapid Gaming Corp., which operates in Pangasinan, has the potential of collecting at least P5 million a day but they cannot fully remit their PMMR because of continued “guerilla” operations of other illegal numbers game, he said.
“Hindi naman kayo yung mga nag-giguerrilla? Kasi giniguerilla yung STL and minsan kayo rin yung gumagawa para hindi maremit yung tamang kita na dapat ibigay sa gobyerno. I’m not referring to all of you, baka yung mga hindi umattend ngayon sila ang gumagawa,” Lacson told STL AACs.
Representative of Lucky V Prime Enterprises Corp. told the senator that they would likely meet their PMMR if jueteng will be totally eradicated as this is one of the challenges they are facing in their operations.
Earlier, PCSO general manager Alexander Balutan called on the Philippine National Police to hit hard on illegal gambling, particularly the illegal numbers game “jueteng” that is continuously competing with the government-sanctioned STL.
“We have to face the illegal gambling crisis, and double our efforts in the conduct of operations against illegal gambling to arrest syndicates, particularly those who are using STL as a front to cover their illegal business,” Balutan said on Friday.
The general manager said even the STL collectors who turn out to be from legitimate STL operators should not be spared from arrest if they would be proved running illegal bookies in their areas of operations. “The PCSO, together with our STL AACs, hopes to finally eradicate jueteng which seems to be the biggest challenge of STL operations,” Balutan added.
Sen. Lacson believes that PMMR of the STL AAC’s should be met and even hiked and the one who could help the PCSO is the PNP by stopping the jueteng operations across the country.
“To become successful [STL operations], ang makakatulong niyo diyan, yung PNP, unless yung PNP kasabwat yung jueteng operator or unless may conspiracy yung STL operator, jueteng operator and PNP, naloko na, di ba?” Lacson told Corpuz.
Likewise, he advised AACs to report to the police those who are conducting “guerrilla operations” (illegal bookies) in their areas of operations as this will affect their sales.
Corpuz said the PCSO has a yearly review on implementing rules and regulations (IRR) to evaluate the operations of STL and to make some adjustments if necessary. The “right to match” where bidding is conducted among existing AACs and new interested STL applicants will be conducted every three years, he added.
