PCSO, Pacific Online boost PSC war chest

MANILA, Philippines - Through the “Scratchit Go for Gold” promo of the Philippine Charity Sweepstakes Office and Pacific Online, the Philippines Sports Commission has found a new way to help the Filipino athletes.

Chairman Harry Angping of the PSC, together with Pacific Online officials Roger Go and Michelle Ocier, yesterday launched the newest sweepstakes promo in town, and announced that for the first batch of tickets worth P100 million, the PSC ended up with P5 million more in its coffers.

“We’re building a war chest for the future of our athletes,” said Angping as he held up ticket samples worth P20 each and would give holders a chance to win instant cash prizes ranging from P20 to P200,000.

Pacific Online, an exclusive lotto system provider for PCSO and also engaged in the business of developing, designing and managing online computer systems, is looking at a long-term partnership with the PSC, and the longer it gets, the bigger share goes to the national athletes.

“It’s actually a form of sweepstakes for the athletes. It’s like a charity fund for the athletes,” said Go.

Pacific Online’s first batch of the “Scratchit Go for Gold” tickets are worth P100 million and as part of its share the PSC got P5 million. Angping said the money will be deposited in a separate bank account for the use of the RP athletes, especially those going to the Guangzhou Asian Games in November.

Pacific Online, a sister company of Tagaytay Highlands, expects the tickets to be sold in three months, and when the next batch comes out, Angping said the PSC share could even grow bigger.

“Maybe for the next batch of tickets, we can get P10 million,” said Angping, adding that tickets are now available in all PCSO outlets, 7-11 stores, SM Malls, Ebiz Western Union and Andok’s Chicken.

The PSC chairman said the new partnership is patterned after a similar “Scratchit” promo in China where a generous part of the sales are used to help fund the national athletes.

“That’s how they do it in China where millions and millions of yuans are earned through the sweepstakes promo and go directly to the athletes and to sports,” said Angping, adding that the next batch of tickets will bear the images of the country’s finest athletes.