‘No STL, no income’ – Art

ILOILO City – Small Town Lottery is beneficial to Iloilo province, according to Gov. Arthur Defensor Sr.

“Kon wala STL sa province, wala income ang gobyerno,” Defensor said.

The Philippine Charity Sweepstakes Office terminated STL operations in the province effective May 10.

STL franchisee Eagle-Crest Gaming and Holding Corp. failed to pay its Presumptive Monthly Retail Receipts (PMRR), said PCSO National Inter-Branch Security Monitoring chief Manuel Fraginal.

Illegal gambling operators benefit from the absence of STL while the provincial government loses income, Defensor said.

“Better nga, at the earliest time possible, ibalik nila ang STL sa probinsya sang Iloilo,” said the governor. “Ang pierde sina da [kon wala STL] amo ang gobyerno.”

Under the new implementing rules and regulations (IRR) on STL, the provincial government gets a .75 percent share of the STL operator’s income.

Defensor had been asking the PCSO to raise this to 1 percent.

“Waay man sila magpamati. Daw tinak-an naman ako sang liwat-liwat,” said the governor.

The PCSO said the PMRR is the “presumed minimum monthly sales of an authorized agent corporation, or STL franchisee.”

“It should be remitted to PCSO every month,” said Fraginal.

Fraginal refused to disclose how much Eagle-Crest’s PMRR arrears were but said they were “in the millions.”

Under Article IX, Section 36 of the PCSO’s 2016 revised implementing rules and regulations for STL, the PCSO’s Board of Directors “determines the PMRR of a particular area.”

The Board “must take into consideration, among others, the area’s location, population, [and] national and local economic and growth targets and activities,” the rules stated.

Eagle-Crest started operating STL in Iloilo in February 2016. Its office and draw court were in Santa Barbara town.

According to Fraginal the PCSO would rebid to interested parties the STL franchise for Iloilo province. Defensor said he is not interested in intervening in this process./PN