MANILA, Philippines — The Philippine Charity Sweepstakes Office (PCSO) has turned over an additional P708 million to the Philippine Health Insurance Corp. (PhilHealth), Commission on Higher Education (CHED) and Dangerous Drugs Board (DDB).
PCSO general manager Melquiades Robles led the handover of the checks to the representatives of the three agencies at the PCSO central office in Mandaluyong City on Dec. 17.
The PCSO is mandated by law to remit percentages of its charity funds to PhilHealth, DDB and CHED.
The funding allocated for the Universal Healthcare (UHC) Law administered by PhilHealth amounted to P639,966,473.73, while CHED received P47,910,633.50 and DDB P20,966,648.70.
Under the UHC Law, the PCSO is mandated to apportion 40 percent of its charity fund to PhilHealth to finance the flagship program of the national government.
On Oct. 10, the PCSO turned over P1.125 billion to PhilHealth, P70.5 million to CHED and P17.4 million to the DDB.
Robles said the PCSO is keen on boosting lotto and other game revenues to increase its remittances to government agencies as well as continue helping charitable organizations under the Institutional Partnership Program.
He also promised to increase the remittances to the Medical Assistance Program and the patient transport vehicles distribution to local government units and hospitals.
Ultra Lotto prize to hit P272 million
Meanwhile, the jackpot in the Ultra Lotto 6/58 is seen to increase to P272 million for tonight’s draw.
The PCSO said no bettor hit the winning combination 38-13-14-06-17-51, which carried a total prize of P259,406,932.80.
Ten second prize winners will receive P120,000 each.
The Tax Reform for Acceleration and Inclusion Law imposes a 20-percent tax on lotto winnings above P10,000.