DOLE urged to help lotto workers displaced by shutdown
MANILA, Philippines — The Department of Labor and Employment can extend assistance to the over 120,000 workers affected by the closure of lotto stations and gaming outlets nationwide, Sen. Nancy Binay said Monday.
President Rodrigo Duterte had ordered the revocation of gaming franchises issued by the Philippine Charity Sweepstakes Office (PCSO) over alleged "massive" corruption in the agency.
As of Monday, the Philippine National Police had closed down more than 30,000 gaming outlets nationwide. The senator expressed concern that franchise operators would have to lay off their workers due to the lack of source of revenue after Duterte's order.
Binay said the DOLE could help the affected workers thorugh its Tulong Panghanapbuhay sa Ating Disadvantaged/Displaced Workers or TUPAD program.
"DOLE can step up and help. May mga pamilyang binubuhay ang mga staff ng PCSO gaming outlets, at malaking bagay ang agarang tulong na maibibigay ng DOLE para maibsan ang epekto ng kanilang biglaang pagkawala ng trabaho," Binay said.
Under this program, the DOLE prvides emergency employment for 30 days with a minimum pay of P300 per day or around P9,000 for a month.
The senator pointed out that this program was intended to extend assistance and provide alternative means of employment to displaced workers.
"If each outlet has an average of 4 employees, with more than 30,000 franchise stations closed, we're looking at a minimim of 120,000 displaced workers. Sana mabigyan ng DOLE ng emergency employment at iba pang tulong," Binay said.
Binay added that the DOLE should coordinate with the PCSO to track its gaming outlets and the number of employees affected.
Hontiveros: Move 'punishes' ordinary people
Sen. Risa Hontiveros, meanwhile, criticized Duterte for "punishing" ordinary people for the corruption of government officials, particularly in the PCSO.
Hontiveros pointed out that many Filipinos base their employment and livelihood on the small lotto operations.
"Thousands of our fellow Filipinos rely on the PCSO for financial assistance to cover costly medical expenses; at times these are matters of life and death for many," Hontiveros also said.
In its 2018 accomplishment report, the PCSO indicated that it has provided a total of 314,596 jobs through the small town lottery.
This includes 13,720 organic employees, 26,227 sales supervisors and 274,649 sales agents and representatives of the small town lottery in various provinces nationwide.
Gatchalian: Privatize PCSO gaming
Sen. Win Gatchalian told reported that "contingency measures" can be put in place for those who will lose their jobs because of the closure of PCSO games. "What is important is the corruption (in the agency) is stopped."
In a radio interview on Monday, Gatchalian said he favors privatizing the PCSO games.
"Ang pananaw ko dito ay simple lang, ang gobyerno ay dapat mangolekta lang, so ibig sabihin, itong mga operasyon ng mga lotto, [small town lottery] at perya ng bayan ay dapat ibigay na sa private sector, monitoring supervision at collection ang government," he said over dzBB.
(My view on this is simple. The government should just collect the revenues, so that means the operations of the lotto, small town lottery and perya ng bayan should be in the private sector and the government will just handle monitoring, supervision, and collection)
He said the money should go straight to the Department of Social Welfare and Development since the agency has the mandate to help the poor. "So simple lang, collect and let DSWD ang mamahala na tumulong sa kababayan natin."
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