PCSO list showed one bettor won 20 times in a month —Tulfo

Senator Raffy Tulfo on Tuesday disclosed that a bettor's name appeared to have won the lotto 20 times in one month, citing a list submitted by the Philippine Charity Sweepstakes Office (PCSO).

"'Yung PCSO nagbigay ho sa akin ng listahan...Ito nga po ang sabi ko medyo nakakataas ng kilay, meron doon na isang tao nanalo ng 20 times in one month. Meron dun 10 times in one month," Tulfo said in an interview on Dobol B TV.

(The PCSO has given me a list of winners and what caught our attention is this one bettor who won 20 times in just one month. There's another who won 10 times in one month.)  

"Siguro baka magkapangalan pero still pare-pareho 'yung premyo ang pinanalunan...Paulit-ulit in one month... Lalong tumambak ang mga questions," he added.

(Maybe there are some winners who just have the same name but the games that they won were also the same.)

Tulfo is leading the investigation into the integrity of PCSO games. Apart from the list of winners, the PCSO also submitted to the Senate panel the documents on the lotto games, including the tax records, of the jackpot winners.

"Bakit tuwing draw, may nananalo na? Ngayon, walang mintis. Samantalang nu'ng panahon na wala pa tong e-lotto, ang tagal bago panalunan. Inaabot ng isang buwan, dalawang buwan," Tulfo said.  

(Why is there always a winner in every draw? Before there was e-lotto it took a month or two before someone hit the jackpot.)

'Easy to investigate'

In a separate interview on Dobol B TV, PCSO General Manager Mel Robles said they will look into the observation that was disclosed by Tulfo and they can also investigate the matter. 

"I wouldn't know [that]. Ako, personally, hindi ko po tintingnan 'yon. Pero I'll check, I'll look into that kung meron pong ganon, kasi hindi naman po kami tumitingin na n'yan after namin maibigay e," Robles said.  

(I wouldn't know that information because I don't look into it frequently. But I'll verify this information.)

"Puwede imbestigahan 'yan. 'Di naman mahirap imbestigahan 'yan e," he went on.

(We can investigate that. It's not that hard to investigate that matter.)

Robles had repeatedly denied that the PCSO can manipulate the results of lotto games amid allegations and senators' questions about the frequent winnings of lotto games.

“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 in a previous Senate hearing.

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

(I take exception to the allegation. Definitely, more people will place bets because of the higher jackpot price. That was really our objective, to bring in more bettors.)

Robles also previously explained that there was a surplus fund to augment the lotto prizes and they did it as a “marketing campaign” to encourage the public to place their bets for higher prizes. —VAL, GMA Integrated News