PCSO: Pause on livestream while fixing malfunctioning lotto machines 'part of procedure'

The Philippine Charity Sweepstakes Office (PCSO) on Monday said suspending the livestream of the lotto draw while fixing the machines is part of their procedure.

PCSO Assistant General Manager for Product Development and Marketing Sector Arnel Casas explained this during the continuation of Senate committee on games and amusement's probe into the integrity of lotto games after the "minor glitch" during its 2 p.m. February 27 draw for its  3D (three-digit) Swertres Lotto game.

"It is part of our procedure that after announcing that we have this machine malfunction, we will put the broadcast on standby and then we will broadcast again, recapping 'yung recorded video during the alternate draw procedure," Casas explained upon Senator Raffy Tulfo's interpellation.

Tulfo, vice chairperson of the Senate panel, pointed out that the PCSO should have shown how they fixed the machines live after the supposed glitch, saying "the betting public has the right to know."

"Next time, 'pag may glitch na nangyari na ganon, nagkaron ng malfunction, kailangan 'wag kayo mag-off air, continuous sa pagbobola live.... Kasi the more na kayo po ay nagtatago, para sa akin, parang nagtatago kayo because nag-off air kayo, the more magdududa 'yung taumbayan," he said.

"Sana wala nang mangyaring next time. We want to see it live how is it being fixed, anong klaseng remedyo ang ginawa niyo," he went on.

(If a glitch happens again in the future, you should show it live and don't go off air. The more you are hiding it to the public, which I think is what you are doing, the more they will doubt your games' integrity.)

Casas, in response, said the PCSO is now improving the draw procedure as provided under the established ISO-approved protocols.

"There is a provision for continual improvement sa ISO namin and with that recommendation, we will include po," he said.

Casas also disclosed that this kind of glitch has only happened around four to five times since 1995.

Earlier, PCSO General Manager Mel Robles said that the February 27 incident was not the first time that a glitch happened.

He assured the public that the PCSO is "prepared for this kind of unexpected incident with our established ISO-approved protocols."

At the said draw, the initial winning combination was 1-9-7.

However, the lotto ball in the first of three draw machines dropped, prompting PCSO to implement what it described during the live program as "alternate procedures."

Members of the PCSO technical team were seen testing a new machine for the first digit.

After the live stream was halted for 15 minutes, a new machine was used to draw the first number again. The second and third digits were unchanged.

However, some social media users commented that the PCSO should have drawn all three numbers again.

Robles said the PCSO technical team "responded and fixed the problem" by using the "standby machine, which was approved based on ISO 9001:2015" Quality Management Systems procedures of the state firm.

Several senators had previously raised questions regarding PCSO operations, including the alleged frequent winnings of lotto games with huge amounts of jackpot prizes.—AOL, GMA Integrated News