NBI, PCSO bust ‘Perya ng Bayan’

The National Bureau of Investigation arrested at least 40 individuals in simultaneous raids on illegal Peryahan ng Bayan operations in Cebu and Mandaue cities last week, the Philippine Charity Sweepstakes Office said on Tuesday.

PCSO General Manager Alexander Balutan said the arrested individuals worked for the outlets illegally operated by a firm called Globaltech Mobile Online Corp., which has been holding illegal gambling operations for the past two years without authorization from the PCSO.

“We are going all-out to stop the illegal gambling activities throughout the country, to protect our legal gaming products, particularly the Small Town Lottery,” Balutan said, stressing that the agency had terminated Globaltech in 2016 for failing to remit earnings to the government.

Balutan said the raids were conducted from Nov. 20 to 23 in coordination with the NBI Central Visayas regional office (NBI-CEVRO) following complaints from PCSO’s Authorized Agent Corporations (AACs) in Mandaue and Cebu.

“PCSO revenues have been adversely affected by the continued operation of illegal gambling which unfairly competes with our legal gaming products, particularly the STL, and so the agency has to act by stopping the operations of Globalteach nationwide,” Balutan pointed out.

The PCSO team was led by Executive Assistant IV and Chief of Nationwide and Inter-Branch Security Monitoring, retired Marine major Manuel Fraginal Sr. in coordination with the agents of NBI-CEVRO led by Regional Director Atty. Tomas Enrile and NBI Senior Investigator V Arnel Pura.

Fraginal said the raids were conducted in 10 barangays in Mandaue City which led to the arrest of 18 Globaltech employees, while 15 barangays in Cebu City with 22 individuals arrested.