PCSO to comply with order to close lotto, STL outlets
MANILA -- Philippine Charity Sweepstakes Office (PCSO) General Manager Royina Garma on Saturday said the agency and its board will comply with President Rodrigo Duterte’s order to close all of its outlets nationwide. “Rest assured that PCSO shall appeal to the Office of the President for the resumption of the conduct of all games to PCSO’s mandate and for the interest of the PCSO, its agents and its beneficiaries,” Garma said in a statement. Garma also advised all its customers that PCSO games are suspended and players who purchased tickets in advance will have to keep their tickets until further notice. Duterte has ordered all gaming activities of the PCSO, including Lotto, Small Town Lottery, and Peryahan ng Bayan, to stop due to “massive corruption” on Friday night. The President announced the order via a video post on the Presidential Communications Operations Office’s Facebook page. On Saturday, Presidential Spokesperson Salvador Panelo said, in a statement, that the President will identify in due time the “culprits” in the “hydra-headed corruption” in all gaming activities. Panelo said the “grand conspiracy” among major players and enforcers of these governmentsanctioned gaming activities and enterprises must be stopped from cheating the government of its rightful shares. He added that such corruption “deprives the masses of the basic services” they deserve. As of 3 p.m. Saturday, the total number of Lotto outlets closed in Metro Manila is 1,959, according to the data released by the National Capital Region Police Office (NCRPO). (PNA)