Philippine Charity Sweepstakes Office General Manager Alexander Balutan on Thursday said his office together with operatives from the provincial police raided and padlocked the draw court center of “Peryahan ng Bayan” that was illegally being operated by the Globaltech Mobile Online Gaming Corp. in Barangay Uno, Cabuyao City, Laguna.
“We will not allow Globaltech to operate with impunity. This illegal activity pays no taxes to the government. Only gambling financiers and protectors benefit from it,” Balutan said.
He said the operation was conducted on April 3.
“We would like to reiterate, PCSO has not authorized any other entity to operate peryahan. Any operation of peryahan is unauthorized and illegal,” Balutan.
Globaltech is illegally competing with Ramloid Gaming Corp., PCSO’s Authorized Agent Corporation which is playing the Small Town Lottery in the said city.
Balutan said that aside from Lotto, Keno, Digit Games, and Sweepstakes, STL is the only legal numbers game in the country.
The raiding team seized computer sets, calculators, accounting ledgers, t-shirts with logo, identification cards samples of bet slips, and other equipment from a rented two-story house being used for Globaltech’s draw court.
According to retired Marine major Manuel Fraginal Sr., chief of the Nationwide Inter-Branch Security Monitoring and lead of PCSO raiding team, a peryahan cannot operate without the consent of some corrupt local and police officials.
Records show that the closure of Globalecth’s peryahan operation is based on PCSO Board Resolution No. 51, s 2016, which terminates the Deed of Authority of Globaltech on the grounds of several counts of under-remittance and non-remittance of sales.
Globaltech also failed to remit sales in the National Capital Region, Catanduanes, Rizal, Palawan, Marinduqe, Oriental Mindoro, Negros Occidental, Cebu, Bohol, Agusan del Norte, Davao del Sur, Misamis Oriental, South Cotabato, and Zamboanga del Sur.
During the raid, Fraginal said Globaltech’s draw court center was vacated even before they arrived.
He said the team also found a large tarpaulin signage bearing “PCSO-Peryahan Cabuyao Station” and another one with PCSO’s Certification and Deed of Authority issued to Globaltech dated December 3, 2014.
“I repeat, this is economic sabotage! This company owes you, the people, hundreds of millions of pesos, this is not the government’s money, but your money,” Fraginal said addressing the public in an interview with the media.
Also seized was a small black board nailed under the big ‘Deed of Authority’ tarpaulin indicating the two draw results and date of draw, which was March 28, 2018.
“The data contained in these tarpaulins are being used in the documents presented to the LGU (local government unit) Executives, PNP units, and the public in the provinces of Cebu and Albay, and other areas of their operation to show and prove the ‘legitimacy’ of Globaltech’s Peryahan ng Bayan activity,” Fraginal said.
Fraginal said the raid was witnessed by village officials and police officials where they were also briefed on the provisions of Republic Act (RA) 9287 and Executive Order 13, mandating them of their respective responsibilities as government officials and law enforcement units, to include corresponding punishments relative to illegal numbers game activities.
“Surprisingly, they don’t have knowledge of the two existing laws, to include PCSO Board Resolutions, Supreme Court, Court of Appeals, and BIR rulings. So, I furnished them copies for their information and references to prove Globaltech’s illegitimate operations,” Fraginal said.
After the joint PCSO-PNP operation, Fraginal said they received reports that collection booths in several municipalities in the province of Laguna have already ceased operations.
This is not the first-time PCSO raided Globaltech’s illegal operation of peryahan. On March 23, PCSO together with National Bureau of Investigation operatives padlocked Globaltech’s draw court in Legazpi City.