PCSO chief, 7 others face graft raps over STL

MANILA, Philippines - Philippine Charity Sweepstakes Office (PCSO) chairman Jose Jorge Corpuz and seven other ranking officials of the agency are facing a graft and ethics violation complaint over the planned expansion of its small town lottery (STL) gaming operations.

In a 20-page complaint filed yesterday, advocacy group Anti-Trapo Movement of the Philippines (ATM) called on the Office of the Ombudsman to investigate Corpuz and seven other PCSO officials for violation of several provisions of Republic Act 3019 or the Anti-Graft and Corrupt Practices Act and Republic Act 6713 or the Code of Conduct and Ethical Standards for Public Officials and Employees.

The group said the planned expansion of the STL operations, announced by the agency on Oct. 7, was meant to favor 18 existing STL operators, contrary to the PCSO’s claim that it aims to increase the revenue of the agency and to eradicate illegal numbers games like jueteng and masiao.

“While President Duterte has been very vocal and transparent in his mandate and directive to fight and stamp out oligarchy and all forms of illegal gambling in the country, this act of the current chairman and his cohorts in the PCSO board and offices is completely the anti-thesis of the President’s mission,” ATM founding chairman Leon Estrella Peralta said after filing the complaint.

“In fact, it is even designed to promote oligarchy as well as monopoly of illegal gambling by restricting the qualifications to only a few,” he added.

Aside from Corpuz, named as respondents in the complaint were PCSO board members Betty Nantes, Mabel Mamba and Francisco Joaquin III, Gaming Product Development and Marketing Sector assistant general manager Conrado Zabella, Legal Department manager Anna Liza Inciong, Gaming Technology Department manager Arnel Casas and Product and Standard Development Department manager Roger Ramirez.

In its complaint, the group said the recently issued 2016 Revised Implementing Rules and Regulations (IRR) for STL expansion is tailored to favor the existing operators in order to allegedly perpetuate their illegal numbers game operations under of the guise of the STL.

“The 2016 Revised IRR is specifically and intentionally crafted by the respondents to favor only the existing STL licensees and the operators of the illegal numbers games who may be bold enough to reveal themselves and willing to give up a much lucrative tax-free and share-fee business,” the complaint read.

The group said most of these STL operators were already tagged by the National Bureau of Investigation to be also engaged in parallel jueteng operations “using their PCSO-issued Authorized Agent Corporation (AAC) STL license as their cover and protection.”

The ATM said several provisions of the Revised IRR were restrictive to other interested firms, such as the requirement that applicant corporation must be 100 percent Filipino and must also possess “the necessary experience, capability and personnel to run an STL operation in the area they are applying for.”

The group said such requirements preclude the possibility of new operators to be qualified.

It was the second time that the ATM filed criminal complaint against officials of the PCSO.

On July 27, 2016 the group also filed graft and ethics violation complaint against former PCSO chairman Erineo Maliksi, Corpuz’s predecessor, Margie Juico and several other former and incumbent officials of the agency. 

The complaint stemmed from the supposed anomalous equipment lease deal with two companies for lottery operations.