‘Gambling lord Atong Ang’s offer of P200M not new’

A P200- million offer made by gambling lord Charlie “Atong” Ang to operate the Small Town Lottery ( STL) nationwide was not new as the issue had been reported many times by the media even before the Senate hearing on it, according to Philippine Charity Sweepstakes Office ( PCSO) General Manager Alexander Balutan.

“I wasn’t given enough time to air my side [during the hearing]. I was consistently being cut off,” Balutan said in a recent statement in connection with a statement failed to mention the offer in the January 24 Senate hearing.

“We will ask [Balutan] to clarify in the next hearing. It looks like the story on the P200 million has been twisted. Now, it’s bribe money,” Lacson, who heads the Committee on Games and Amusement, said.

The PCSO general manager had reiterated during the committee hearing that Ang, who was then accompanied by (an illegal numbers game) bagwomanturned-whistleblower Sandra Cam, 14, 2016 and offered P200 million monthly in exchange for operating the STL nationwide.

“I’ve been consistent with my statements,” he said.

“He can check the news as early as January. I didn’t twist anything. We have photos to prove they came to us offering a deal,” Balutan added.

The STL made history by generating P15.7-billion revenue in 2017 (P1.3 billion a month) in just one year during Balutan’s watch from a mere P4.7 billion.

Out of the P1.12 billion STL shares, the PCSO gave P314.9 million to the Philippine National Police, P78.7 million to the Criminal Investigation and Detection Group, P472.4 million to cities/ municipalities, P103.7 million to congressional districts and P150.3 million to provinces.