Following the closure of all PCSO-sanctioned gaming operations nationwide due to alleged massive corruption at the charity and sweepstakes office, Negros Occidental Provincial Board Member Andrew Montelibano wants an investigation into the local operator of the Small Town Lottery (STL) in the province.
President Rodrigo Duterte ordered the closure of all gaming schemes operated, licensed and franchised by the Philippine Charity Sweeptakes Office.
In Murcia where he was former mayor, Montelibano said the STL operator “does not remit to the municipal government its share despite operating in the town”.
Montelibano chairs the Committee on Games and Amusements of the Sangguniang Panlalawigan.
He recommends that once it re-opens, the provincial government should have a representative in every draw conducted by the operator and closely monitor how much share is being remitted to the province.
In fact, he said he has inquired from the Provincial Budget Office on the share of the province from the operation.
“The government is being denied of its shares from the legal games and that in return services for people is also being denied,” Montelibano pointed out.
He said that proceeds from the STL operations remitted to the LGUs goes to a Trust Fund intended for services that would benefit the people.
“I support the move of the President as his way of cleansing the PCSO,” Montelibano said.
He also believes that the closure is only temporary because the President is only getting rid of corruption that has been happening in the agency most especially in the remittances of government shares particularly in the case of the STL.
The order of the President includes the closure of lotto, STL, Peryahan Ng Bayan and other PCSO games nationwide.* (NDB, UMP, PHOTOS BM Andrew Montelibano)