MANILA, Philippines — The Peryahan ng Bayan (PNB) numbers game can raise P100 billion in revenue annually, its operator said yesterday.
Globaltech Mobile Online Corp., owner of the PNB system, called on the Philippine Charity Sweepstakes Office (PCSO) to allow its operations, which could generate revenue five times higher than that of the small-town lottery (STL).
The STL reportedly generated P21.9 billion in revenue last year.
Bernard Vitriolo, lawyer for Globaltech, said allowing PNB operations would be beneficial to the government, especially to the administration of President Duterte that has been raising revenue for its social service programs.
Vitriolo said higher revenue could mean bigger funds for charity programs of the PCSO.
He said the law provides for the automatic allocation of 30 percent of income generated by the PCSO to its charity funds.
Globaltech had offered its lottery system to the government in 2014, but it was rejected by the PCSO.
Vitriolo pointed out they have a “transparent and auditable” system that can ensure correct revenue collection and address issues of corruption – unlike the STL and other illegal numbers games such as jueteng.
The lawyer explained that STL is conducted manually, which is “susceptible to manipulation from collections on the ground to the remittance to the government.”
“The result in STL is a manipulated, corrupted and contaminated system of betting and collection. That is the reason why the government is always short-changed in a big way,” Vitriolo said.
He said the PNB has a verifiable and auditable central lottery system that is capable of management, development and collection.
“The lottery game management, bet collection and game developer system or LGM is a proprietary gaming system duly registered with the National Library and Intellectual Property Office. It has a fixed and mobile point of sale device where bets are generated and collected. This technology has a network system from the draw center equipment interconnecting with the POS to the data center and central lottery system,”Vitriolo said.
He asked the PCSO board of directors to look into the matter and consider the advantages of PNB over STL.
He questioned why PCSO general manager Alexander Balutan has been opposing the PNB operations.
Vitriolo urged PCSO director Sandra Cam to investigate the matter.
Last month, the Department of Justice dismissed the criminal charges filed against the operators of PNB and declared their operations as legal, citing the existing status quo ante order issued by the Pasig Regional Trial Court Branch 161 stopping the PCSO’s revocation of the PNB’s permit.