MANILA, Philippines — Gaming businessman and consultant Charlie “Atong” Ang on Wednesday denied the allegations that he wanted to operate the “Small Town Lottery” of the Philippine Charity Sweepstakes Office.
“Ako, wala akong negosyo sa PCSO na ‘yan, (I don’t have any business with PCSO)” Ang said in a radio interview with dzMM.
Ang made the clarification after PCSO general manager Alexander Balutan raised his friendship with PCSO board member Sandra Cam.
Reports said Balutan claimed Ang tried to pursue operation of Small Town Lottery, legal alternative to jueteng and other illegal numbers games, by offering P200 million a month to PCSO. However, his proposal was rejected because the offer was too small compared to the lottery’s monthly revenue of P1.7 billion.
Balutan also alleged that Ang made the proposal in a meeting requested by Cam with PCSO Chair Jose Jorge Corpuz. The general manager said the meeting happened a week after he and Corpuz were appointed by President Rodrigo Duterte to PCSO.
Ang denied these allegations and claimed the meeting with PCSO was requested by Duterte to help the iron out the agency given his gaming background. He also said the meeting happened before the two officials of PCSO were appointed to the agency.
The gaming consultant also said Special Assistant to the President Bong Go and Duterte himself can attest that he was only asked to attend a meeting to help PCSO. He was allegedly contacted through Cam.
“Nagpayo lang ako sa kanila. Napatunayan ko sa kanila na hindi ako mahilig sa kalokohan (I just gave them [Corpuz and Balutan] advice. I have proven that I am not into anomalous deals,) Ang said.
Ang maintained that Balutan is lying and said he is willing to answer the accusations against him in a proper forum.
“Willing na willing ako humarap diyan dapat magising na ang tao diyan sa STL na yan, (I am very willing to face these allegations. People should learn about STL,)” Ang said.
“Ako, willing akong barilin ang sarili ko ‘pag di ko napatunayan sa kanila…Niloloko nila ang taumbayan, (I am willing to shoot myself if I fail to prove them wrong… They are fooling the public,”) he added.
Cam earlier confirmed she is friends with Ang but also denied that the gaming businessman is into the operation of Small Town Lottery.
Both Cam and Ang have previous ties to jueteng.
READ: Cam fires back after ‘loose cannon’ tag
“Atong Ang has never been an STL operator. He has nothing to do with the PCSO games,” Cam previously said.
The allegations against Ang and Cam came after the latter claimed that there is corruption in Small Town Lottery. She claims operators give 80 percent of the profit from the lottery to alleged gambling lords while only declaring 20 percent of lottery profits.