PCSO, DILG to hold summit on new town lottery

MANILA, Philippines - The Philippine Charity Sweepstakes Office and the Department of the Interior and Local Government will hold a summit to ensure the smooth implementation of the PCSO Loterya ng Bayan (PLB), a new lottery game designed to eradicate jueteng and other illegal numbers game.

Jose Ferdinand Rojas II, PCSO general manager, said the summit aims to put up safety measures to prevent gambling lords from using the new game as front for their jueteng operations.

He said at least 230 gaming firms have filed application to operate the newly launched lottery game in certain localities.   

The PCSO said PLB applications were filed for the provinces of Pangasinan, Bulacan, Zambales, Isabela, Nueva Ecija Nueva Vizcaya, Pampanga, La Union, Ilocos Sur, Abra, Quirino and Cagayan.

According to Rojas, at least seven applications were filed for the three congressional districts and the cities of San Carlos and Urdaneta in Pangasinan.

For Southern Tagalog, applications were filed for PLB in Batangas, Laguna, Rizal, Quezon, Albay, Camarines Sur, Camarines Norte and Sorsogon.

Gaming companies from the National Capital Region also filed PLB request for Makati, Marikina, Pasay, Quezon City and Taguig.

For Visayas and Mindanao, Negros Occidental topped the list of applicants from the six congressional districts, including the cities of San Carlos, Silay and Sipalay City. PBL applications were also submitted for Calape in Bohol, Cebu and Lapu-Lapu cities in Cebu, Leyte, Iloilo and Zamboanga City in Mindanao.

Rojas said the PCSO is currently screening the PBL applicants to make sure that only companies that complied with the requirements will be allowed to operate the Loterya ng Bayan.

Under the PCSO guidelines, local governments and congressional districts are entitled to certain percentage from the proceeds of the Loterya ng Bayan.

The PCSO expects to generate at least P10 billion from the new lottery game in one year.

The PCSO also increased its allocation for medical and financial assistance to the poor from P4.5 million to P11 million a day, according to Rojas.

“The PCSO will extend medical assistance to every indigent patient,” he said.

Rojas, however, reminded patients seeking medical assistance to secure medical abstract and certification of indigence from the social workers.

PCSO director Mabel Mamba said the new board members decided to increase the daily allocation for medical assistance to be able to extend help to more poor Filipinos.

Mamba said the PCSO is also working to set up more sub-offices to reach out to the poor in the countryside. To date, there are only 26 PCSO provincial offices.

PCSO officials also disclosed that a modern medical and dental facility will be opened soon at the Lung Center of the Philippines to cater to indigent patients.

The LCP agreed to provide a portion of the hospital free of charge to the PCSO medical facility.

“As soon as the center becomes fully operational, patients seeking PCSO assistance will have easier access not only to the center but to other government hospitals, such as the National Kidney Institute, East Avenue Medical Center and the Philippine Heart Center,” he added.