The Philippine Charity Sweepstakes Office has boosted its income to P63 billion, marking 20-percent growth from its revenue in 2017.
The government agency posted P63,557,912,238.39 compared to last year’s P52,982,703,111.04.
Among all the games, the Lotto and Digit Games was the top gainer at nearly P32 billion, noting a 14-percent growth.
PCSO general manager Alexander Balutan credited the increase to the frenzied Ultra Lotto 6/58 jackpot which had peaked at P1.18 billion after being elusive for months.
The jackpot, won by two winners from Luzon and Visayas, was the highest prize recorded in Lotto’s history.
Small Town Lottery’s earnings also accelerated to an exceptional 66 percent at over P26 billion.
Meanwhile, Traditional Sweepstakes plunged to a disappointing P4,867,500 from last year’s P22.5 million.
Keno Lotto Express also slipped to P4,397,969,030, down by 17.91 percent.
Balutan blamed Keno’s losses to higher ticket cost due to the Tax Reform for Acceleration and Inclusion Law.
The ticket price increased from P10 to P12.
In a press conference, Balutan said the agency would review the price structure to recover from its losses in 2018, especially that PCSO is one of the agencies expected to fund the Universal Health Care Bill which was cited by President Duterte as a priority measure.
Aside from PCSO, other sources of funding are the Department of Health, PhilHealth, Philippine Gaming and Amusement Corp.
PCSO’s flagship medical assistance program aided more patients in 2018, catering to 528,190 beneficiaries nationwide.
Its funding also climbed to over P8 billion, a 7-percent increase from 2017.
The agency also spent P626,249.20 in medical and dental missions, advancing to a 233-percent increase which supported 9,231 patients.
PCSO was also recognized as the sixth top paying government-owned and -controlled organization last year.
