PCSO: Nothing illegal in STL shares of lawmakers

MANILA, Philippines - The Philippine Charity Sweepstakes Office (PCSO) yesterday said there is nothing illegal with some lawmakers benefiting from the operations of small town lottery (STL) in their congressional districts.

In a statement, the PCSO board said the implementing rules and regulations (IRR) of the PCSO on the STL project allowed the disbursement of funds to congressmen requesting financial aid for their constituents.

“The IRR was adopted by previous PCSO boards in furtherance of the charity office’s goal to expand its services to destitute patients and poor Filipinos needing medical care,” the board said.

The PCSO board issued the statement following reports that at least 54 congressmen in 27 provinces across the country were believed to have benefited from STL operations, quoting PCSO director Aleta Tolentino during the Senate Blue Ribbon committee hearing on Wednesday.

Tolentino revealed STL operators directly remit to the congressmen their share of the sales, representing 2.25 percent of net proceeds from the area where they operate.

The STL share of the legislators, however, remained unliquidated.

The PCSO has no record of remittances to congressmen, but a document obtained by The STAR showed that at least 54 lawmakers from the 14th Congress were the supposed beneficiaries of STL operations in their respective jurisdictions from 2007 to 2010.

The new PCSO management scrapped STL last February and launched the Loterya ng Bayan.

But the PCSO board said the report placed congressmen who received their share from STL in a bad light.

“We are prepared to clear their names in the media or in any public forum,” the board said.

“The PCSO will continue to work in close partnership with local governments – the congressional districts, city, town and provincial jurisdictions – to bring government help to the sick and the needy, and to economically distressed communities.”

One of the legislators, Camarines Sur Rep. Arnulfo Fuentebella, yesterday denied receiving a share from the STL operations in his district.

He claimed he returned his supposed share back to the PCSO.

Fuentebella showed a copy of his letter to then PCSO vice chair and general manager Rosario Uriarte stating that he cannot accept any proceeds from STL. Attached to the letter were copies of the checks he returned to the agency.

Fuentebella lamented, however, that his request for an ambulance in his district had been repeatedly ignored for the past nine years.

It was also gathered that some local officials and the police are receiving shares from STL operations in Tarlac and Zambales.

Among the lawmakers who were supposed to have received the STL share were Tarlac representatives Monica Prieto Teodoro and Jeci Lapus.

In Zambales, among the supposed beneficiaries were representatives Maria Milagros Magsaysay and Antonio Diaz. It was not known, however, if the two lawmakers actually received their share.