House panel to review Bingo Milyonaryo, other PCSO games

MANILA, Philippines - The House committee on games and amusement is conducting a review of the games of the Philippine Charity Sweepstakes Office (PCSO), particularly those aimed at wiping out jueteng and other illegal numbers games.

Cavite Rep. Elpidio Barzaga, who chairs the House panel, said the PCSO has been implementing various games such as the small town lottery (STL) to eliminate jueteng but has failed, as the games were invariably hijacked by gambling lords.

He said the PCSO should have learned from its previous failures where its games have become fronts for the illegal numbers game.

Barzaga cited a National Bureau of Investigation (NBI) report confirming that the operations of the recently launched Bingo Milyonaryo in Nueva Vizcaya have been transformed into a “jueteng front.”

The Bingo Milyonaryo is the latest betting game the PCSO has introduced reportedly to replace the experimental STL. It is still in the “experimental stage,” PCSO officials earlier told the House committee.

The PCSO launched Bingo Milyonaryo this year and tapped at least 25 gaming firms, mostly newly formed, to operate it in 50 cities and provinces.

Barzaga said PCSO officials have to explain why Bingo Milyonaryo has shown “signs of weakness” even when it was still in the testing stage.

Nueva Vizcaya Rep. Carlos Padilla disclosed that the local NBI office has conducted a surveillance of Bingo Milyonaryo operations in his province in res-ponse to the request of Gov. Ruth Padilla.

NBI-Bayombong chief Bersheen Apolinar earlier reported that Bingo Milyonaryo has been used as front for the illegal numbers game.

Apolinar also noted that Bingo Milyonaryo operations in five towns in Nueva Vizcaya “deviated from the guidelines set by the PCSO.”

Padilla said Bingo Milyonaryo outlets are practically protected from regulatory powers of local government units because the PCSO has extended them power to bypass policies imposed by local authorities.