PCSO denies manipulating lotto results at Senate hearing

The Philippine Charity Sweepstakes Office (PCSO) on Thursday denied that they manipulated the result of a recent 6/49 Grand Lotto draw which was won by a single person.

PCSO General Manager Mel Robles made the denial during the continuation of the Senate Committee on Games and Amusement’s investigation into the integrity of the lotto games.

“Ang sinasabi ng ilan, meron kayong plinanta na tao para tayaan ang lahat ng possible combinations. Ginawa niyo ‘yun, P280 million ang ginastos… 14 million combinations napakatagal yon kung tutuusin…Now, ang sinasabi ngayon nila, possible naman daw ‘yon, especially na itong 6/49 ay pinanalunan online,” said Senator Raffy Tulfo, who presided over the hearing.

(Some are saying you planted a person who will place a bet on all possible combinations. If you were to do that you will spend P280 million pesos for 14 million combinations, which would take a long time considering. Now, some are saying it’s possible, especially for 6/49 that was won online.)

“Pwedeng manipulahin ‘yung machine na para magkaroon ng automatic sequence betting na in a matter of minutes or hours, kaya nang matayaan ang lahat ng numero,” he added.

(The machine can be manipulated to allow automatic sequence betting in a matter of minutes or hours, making it possible to bet on all the number combinations.)

Responding to Tulfo’s concerns, Robles said that they do not know how this can be possible.

“We would like to assure you that you can never, never manipulate it. Kaya nga allowed kami mag-bet, Mr. Chair. Even I can bet because it’s beyond me. Even if we wanted to, with the system we have, we cannot,” Robles said.

“I take exception na kayang panalunin. Definitely, madami pong tatayo kung malaki ang jackpot. ‘Yun po naman ang objective namin– to really bring in bettors,” the PCSO official added.

Robles maintained that betting on all combinations is everybody’s right but it does not guarantee automatic winnings.

“It does not guarantee that you will get the jackpot by yourself. Our records show, hindi naman binet-tan po ang lahat ng combinations nung day na tinamaan (Our records show, no one placed bets on all the combinations on the day the combination was drawn),” he said.

Tulfo also questioned the augmentation that significantly raised the amount of the lotto prize jackpots, saying the money should have been diverted to funds meant for charity.

Robles explained that there was a surplus fund to augment the lotto prize and they did it as a “marketing campaign” to encourage the public to place their bets, adding that in the last 30 days, the funds that they used to augment the prize were returned to the PCSO.

“We made P800 million net, not to mention the taxes generated,” Robles pointed out.

According to Robles, from P1.3 billion that they released for their betting promo in December, the PCSO earned P2.2 billion.

Further, Robles said that only 30 percent of the PCSO revenue can be used for charity under the law.

In a press conference, Senate Minority Leader Aquilino “Koko” Pimentel III, one of the senators who sought the Senate inquiry, described the frequent winnings during the period when PCSO augmented the jackpot as “quite unnatural.”

“In one month’s time, napanalunan lahat ng five lotto games ng PCSO after the augmentation of the jackpot… So P1.7 billion ang augmentation parang pamasko nung 2023. Natamaan lahat iyon in more or less one month,” Pimentel said.

“There have been past instances na more than P500 million ang jackpot, hindi augmented but the natural accumulation of the jackpot and yet tingnan natin ang time period bago siya tinamaan. It took mga three to four months,” he added.

Pimentel also noted that the PCSO should comply with its charter, saying he was disappointed when they found out that their board was using a legal opinion in 2021 issued by former Executive Secretary Salvador Medialdea.

“There might even be a violation of their charter. The word and the spirit of their charter indicate that the board must always inform the President [sa] ano ang nangyayri and they have not been communicating with the President because they are relying on ES Medialdea opinion na time pa ng past president. Mali na po yon,” he said.

He pointed out that Section 10 of the PCSO charter states that almost all actions of the board should be subject to the approval of the President.

The PCSO is a government owned and controlled corporation under the direct supervision of the Office of the President.

“As a practice na lumabas sa hearing, they have not been getting the approval of the Office of the  President because they want to use a 2021 previous administration opinion na hindi naman applicable (that is not applicable),” Pimentel said.

“We call the attention of the PCSO. I hope they modify their behavior. ‘Pag hindi nila gawin ‘yon, well after na na-call ‘yung attention nila, maybe, we are open to graft and corruption cases here,” Pimentel added.

The senator explained that the inquiry was not meant to accuse individuals of criminal wrongdoing but to “boost the integrity of the games.”—RF, GMA Integrated News