No approved Loterya ng Bayan franchise yet

BACOLOD CITY, Philippines — Not one of the six applicants for franchisee of the newly launched Loterya ng Bayan in Negros Occidental has been approved yet, according to the Philippine Charity Sweepstakes Office recently.

PCSO Chairperson Margarita Juico issued this statement denying text messages circulating that said: "Boy Jalandoni got the Loterya ng Bayan in Negros, defeating Cong. Ferrer, Mayor Maxi and Cong. Benitez."

Juico clarified that the messages were not true. "We have not given any franchise yet for Loterya ng Bayan in the whole country. We still accept applicants who would like to have a franchise in the provinces," she said.

The PCSO is giving franchisee-applicants until July 15 to submit their application papers, and the franchise holders for Loterya, including the one in Negros, would be known in the last week of July, Juico said.

For their part, Reps. Alfredo Abelardo Benitez (3rd district, Negros Occ.) and Jeffrey Ferrer (4th dist.) said they never applied for a Loterya franchise and that their names were being used adversely by the anonymous texter.

The Loterya ng Bayan, to start operating either in August or first week of September, will substitute the Small Town Lottery (STL), which will then become illegal with the operation of Loterya, Juico said, adding that various provincial police reports stated that STL has been used as fronts for some illegal numbers games like jai-alai.

Juico confirmed that Jalandoni, who is the operator of Super Lucky Beaglers that runs the STL in Silay City, is also applying for Loterya franchise. "He is one of those, but like other applicants, he will go through proper evaluation and we don't know yet on who will get it for Negros," she said.

At least 165 gaming companies have applied for permits to operate Loterya outlets nationwide, Juico said, and the PCSO has created a committee to review the applications to ensure that only legitimate firms with no links to illegal gambling would be given permits. (FREEMAN)