Two days before the congressional recess, the House Committee on Games and Amusements is set to again tackle on Monday the expansion of the government-sanctioned Small Town Lottery, the only legal numbers game in the country, which is gaining ground against the illegal numbers game.
Members of the committee, led by Parañaque Rep. Gus Tambunting, through House Resolution No. 958 signed by some party-list congressmen, will likewise address the alleged kill plot drama of gambling lord Charlie “Atong” Ang.
Ang, the owner of the Meridien Vista Gaming Corp., is embroiled in a controversy over his gambling operations outside the Cagayan Economic Zone Authority in Sta. Ana, Cagayan, which government declared illegal.
Ang is said to be earning from his illegal numbers game operations an estimated of more than P2.37 billion a month but have failed to remit taxes for more than nine years through MVGC operations in 13 provinces in the country.
Justice Secretary Vitaliano Aguirre has also called out the gambling operator on back taxes amounting to more than P25 billion.
Aguirre has asked the Bureau of Internal Revenue to study the filing of an appropriate tax suit against the gambling lord.
As STL continues to gain ground, some local chief executives were derailing its full-blast operation by insisting their right to issue business permits to STL outlets operating within their jurisdiction which the PCSO dismissed.
But PCSO cited a Supreme Court decision dated August 2001 (Lina vs Sangguniang Panlalawigan of Laguna) pertaining to lotto outlets which is similar to STL, both lottery games being played by PCSO.
“While lotto is clearly a game of chance, the national government deems it wise and proper to permit it. Hence the Sangguniang Panlalawigan of Laguna, a local government unit, cannot issue a resolution or an ordinance that would seek to prohibit permits. Stated otherwise, what the national legislature is expressly allows by law, such as lotto, a provincial board prohibits may not disallow by ordinance or resolution,” the decision stated.
PCSO also cited a 2-page legal opinion from the Department of Justice, No. 71 dated 1995, clarifying that PCSO’s lottery games including the STL are not required to secure permits or licenses and are also exempt from the authority of local government units to impose taxes, fees, or charges on the PCSO lotto ticket outlets.
The opinion further states that “It’s duly appointed sales agents are…mere extensions of the PCSO, and should, like the PCSO, be also considered exempt from the licensing authority of the LGUs where they operate.”
The committee also summoned PCSO officials to explain the legality of the operations of expanded STL and the benefits it could give to the government. The PCSO maintained that the STL is legal and even President Rodrigo Duterte has ordered PCSO officials to increase its revenues in order to improve public services.
Obviously, vested interests were seeking to derail the government’s anti-illegal gambling efforts which put in question the intentions of the officials conducting the House probe.
Expected to attend the hearing is PCSO general manager Alexander Balutan, Aguirre and National Security Adviser Hermogenes Esperon.
Recently, Duterte signed Executive Order No. 13, prohibiting any action for the assignment, sharing, lease, transfer or selling of online gambling licenses in the country.
At present, the PCSO has 56 approved Authorized Agent Corporations from the original 18 to play STL. Of the number, 40 are already operating while the rest are just completing the finishing touches of their facilities to operate. The PCSO said 35 more AACs have been approved to increase the number to 91 and will soon operate in the different parts of the country.
According to the PCSO, the expanded STL has generated 550,000 STL employees from the expanded STL, an increase of 372,000 from the employees hired when there were just 18 AACs.
Aside from its impact on people’s livelihoods, the expanded STL has also increased PCSO revenues by almost P4 billion from January to April alone.