SO, NON-DELINQUENT franchisees of Small Town Lottery (STL) may now resume their operations. STL was suspended by no less than the President himself due to alleged corruption (read: not remitting to the government its share, or having low sales/income).
Well, that is just one of the issues hounding STL. Perhaps it would be better for the President to really get to the bottom of all issues involved. As early as 2017, Philippine Charity Sweepstakes Office (PCSO) officials admitted that some people who used to run illegal gambling operations are the very same people operating the government-sanctioned STL.
It appears that even with the present set-up where gambling lords have legitimized their operation and now call themselves “gaming lords”, the government is still losing a lot of potential revenues because some of these STL franchise holders are only using it as front for their illegal gambling operations. Sounds familiar?
In certain areas the PCSO is getting less than its expected share from STL due to the continued existence of illegal numbers games. Of course, this is better than the old set-up where there was no STL and the government was getting nothing from local lottery operations. Still, it must be emphasized that STL operations is allowed by law to eliminate illegal gambling. It is thus quite alarming that STL appears to have become a convenient front for the proliferation of illegal gambling like jueteng or bookies.
There might be a need to put in place stricter rules and regulations on the operation of STL. There may even be a need to review the PCSO charter, its rules and regulations relative to the grant and operation of STL franchises to pinpoint legal loopholes used to cover illegal gambling activities that deprive the government of much needed funds to fuel the government.
