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PCSO-Iloilo continues medical assistance

By Perla Lena

July 30, 2019, 6:52 pm

<p><strong>GAMING SHUTDOWN.</strong> The Red Subay Gaming Corporation, the authorized operator of STL in Iloilo province, based in Santa Barbara, Iloilo has been closed effective on Saturday (July 27, 2019). The Philippine Charity Sweepstakes Office will continue to accept applications under the individual medical assistance program. <em>(Photo courtesy of Ian Paul Cordero)</em></p>

GAMING SHUTDOWN. The Red Subay Gaming Corporation, the authorized operator of STL in Iloilo province, based in Santa Barbara, Iloilo has been closed effective on Saturday (July 27, 2019). The Philippine Charity Sweepstakes Office will continue to accept applications under the individual medical assistance program. (Photo courtesy of Ian Paul Cordero)

ILOILO CITY -- The Philippine Charity Sweepstakes Office (PCSO) will continue to accept applications by patients seeking help under the individual medical assistance program.

PCSO Iloilo branch manager Janette O. Lloyd made the announcement upon receipt of a memorandum from their central office on Monday.

The announcement came amidst the suspension of the operation of all gaming activities of the PCSO effective Saturday.

“If their papers are complete, they will be entertained. It’s still on a first-come, first-served basis,” she said in a phone interview, adding that they still have to undergo an interview with the social welfare office.

She said that the daily allocation of the PCSO was reduced to PHP400,000 from PHP800,000.

“It was reduced because the income from STL and lotto is not good,” she said.

The ZFIC Gaming Operations that operate the STL in Iloilo City based on presumptive monthly retail rates (PMMR) is supposed to pay PHP60 million to PHP70 million a month while Red Subay Gaming Corporation owes PCSO PHP111 million a month.

She added that 65 percent of the revenue of the PCSO goes to the prize fund, 30 percent for charity fund where the medical assistance, acquisition of ambulance and wheelchair is being sourced, and 15 percent for the operating fund of the office.

Meanwhile, a report from the Police Regional Office Western Visayas (PRO6) showed that 100 percent of the PCSO gaming stations in Western Visayas are closed or equivalent to 283 lotto outlets, 60 Keno stations, 212 small town lottery (STL) outlets, and eight Peryahan ng Bayan.

Lloyd said that in Iloilo, there were two STL outlets and 150 lotto and Keno outlets.

Lloyd said thousands of workers employed by operators of various gaming stations were affected but President Duterte, in ordering the closure, only wanted what is “good for the Filipino people”.

“In his SONA (State of the Nation Address), it’s not only PCSO, in fact it was not even mentioned. But all government agencies should be transparent to the people,” she said.

She hoped that the issue will be resolved as early as possible so that the PCSO can resume operations. (PNA)



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