Gov, cop chief back small town lottery

DAVIDE

Both the province and the Police Regional Office (PRO) supported President Rodrigo Duterte’s plan to revamp the state-run Small Town Lottery (STL) outlets to generate more funds for the national and local governments.

Chief Supt. Noli Taliño, PRO-7 chief, said he supports the STL since their office receives remittances from STL operators in Bohol.

“We receive about P140,000 a month, though the amount varies depending on the collection,” he said.

Taliño said they used the money to purchase office supplies for PRO-7.

“We don’t use it for personal reasons. In fact, the amount is being liquidated,” he said.

Originally implemented to rival the similar but illegal “jueteng,” the STL reported only P4.7 billion in revenues in 2015 and P6.8 billion as of October 2016, based on a report of the Philippine Charity Sweepstakes Office.

The National Bureau of Investigation claimed that some STL operators defrauded the government of at least P50 billion a year by under-declaring their sales.

STL was launched by the administration of the late president Corazon Aquino in 1987, hoping that it would stamp out “jueteng,” an illegal numbers racket. Both involved betting on two-number combinations.

Bets in jueteng involve a pair of numbers ranging from 1 to 37. In STL, the choices are from 1 to 40. Unlike the PCSO-run lotto, STL draws are done locally.

Cebu Gov. Hilario Davide III said STLs can help augment the revenues of local governments.

But Davide said the PCSO should strictly monitor the remittances of the STLs so it won’t be used for corruption.

“We know some people want to gamble because in a way, STL is gambling since it is a numbers game but at least it’s legal. It’s only fair that the host LGUs should get a share from the proceeds,” he said./with USJ-R Intern Thea Verona Oliverio