Lotto pot sweetened to lure more bettors

THE Philippine Charity Sweepstakes Office (PCSO) is offering bigger jackpots in the lotto draws to encourage more bettors.

PCSO General Manager Melquiades Robles explained the additional prizes during the continuation of the Senate hearing of the Committee on Games and Amusements on Thursday.

Robles told Sen. Rafael “Raffy” Tulfo the move was part of the PCSO campaign to attract more bettors and to boost revenue for charity.

Robles said that last December, for example, the jackpots of lotto games were increased, P100 million each added to 6/42 and 6/45 draws, and P500 million each to 6/49, 6/55 and 6/58 draws.

Tulfo said the committee wanted to be clarified on an issue regarding PCSO’s integrity.

“We will tackle a very important and pressing issue that has been the main concern for a long time by many lotto players and that issue pertains to the integrity of the game,” he said.

Tulfo wants to study the possibility of banning PCSO from drawing the jackpot money from their prize fund reserve for their lottery games after Robles also admitted in a Senate inquiry last week that the viral photo of a recent P43-million lotto jackpot winner was poorly edited.

He also said the total amount transferred from the PCSO’s prize fund to the jackpots for the lottery games reached P1.7 billion.

“We can see here that the PCSO is involved in a suspicious system that the long run may cause bankruptcy of lotto because the P1.7 billion could be a saving for the PCSO that can be utilized for their charity projects,” said Tulfo in Filipino.

“This million worth of money wasted by PCSO could save thousands of indigent patients, and should have been used for the hundreds of ambulances, wheelchairs, medicines, etc,” he said.

“It is sad that the P1.7 billion only went to a few individuals. The winners in the jackpot are also questionable according to netizens,” Tulfo said.

Senate Minority Leader Aquilino “Koko” Pimentel 3rd asked the PCSO to comment on a resolution he filed on Oct. 5, 2022, which seeks to determine and maintain the integrity and trustworthiness of the PCSO games amid allegations of controversies and irregularities.

During the hearing by the Committee on Games and Amusements on several proposals involving the PCSO, Pimentel said he filed the resolution after the 6/55 draw announced a total of 433 winners on Oct. 2, 2022, with multiple numbers of 9 wins.

“It’s a relevant resolution. I want an explanation on why there were 433 winners in that draw. Do you have a system to check the multiples of 9 betting systems? If you have those systems to check it, can you prove it?” Pimentel said.

He also wanted to know the “distinct” number of bets that were placed in that particular draw.