New STL rules out next year

MANILA, Philippines – The holidays have delayed the deliberations of the Philippine Charity Sweepstakes Office (PCSO) on the new guidelines and the review of the franchises of the controversial Small Town Lottery (STL).

Lawyer Jose Ferdinand Rojas II, PCSO general manager, said lack of time has forced the PCSO board to postpone the release of the guidelines until next year.

“The PCSO board is working overtime but with the coming holidays the final report may come out next year,” he said.

Rojas said the review includes the performance of STL operators all over the country and to determine if they are complying with the terms provided in their franchises.

He said the Philippine National Police (PNP) and the Department of the Interior and Local Government would submit reports on STL operators who are using the legal numbers game in running jueteng in their respective localities.

The PCSO earlier announced that the new guidelines would be released before the year ends but the PNP has yet to submit its report on the illegal numbers game.

Aside from jueteng that proliferates in Luzon, masiao, a three-digit illegal numbers game, is also competing with the minor lotteries of the PCSO such as “Suertes” and “EZ 2.”

Some lawmakers have called for the cancellation of all STL franchises and the introduction of a new game that would isolate gambling lords from the lottery.

In response, the PCSO is set to introduce the “Loter-yangbayan,” which would operate like the STL but whose draws would be conducted by PCSO personnel although the operators would still be the ones that would sell tickets and other PCSO products.