PCSO sets e-lotto trial run next month

MANILA, Philippines — The Philippine Charity Sweepstakes Office (PCSO) has set a November launch for the trial run of the web-based application lotto betting system or “e-lotto” that finally allows online lotto betting in the country.

Mel Robles, PCSO general manager and vice chairman of the board, said the PCSO is pursuing the lotto digitalization bid after the successful launch last Sunday of the Philippine Lottery System (PLS) lotto technology platform, which upgraded the lotto technology used by the PCSO.

“It’s good to be attuned to the times. This will also cater to a different market,” Robles said, adding that online betting will make lotto games more accessible to people as long as they have a smartphone or a computer.

“We’re confident this will work side by side with our outlets or kiosks especially with this Philippine Lottery System that we are introducing now,” he added.

Robles said the adoption of the PLS is “a milestone, because finally after 25 years, (the lotto system used by the PCSO) has been upgraded.”

The PCSO has seen a significant increase in lotto sales with the more efficient bet processing at the outlets, he noted.

The PCSO signed on Aug. 30 a memorandum of agreement with listed lotto technology systems provider Pacific Online Systems Corp. (POSC) for e-lotto’s one-year trial run in the country.

In a disclosure to the Philippine Stock Exchange on the same date, the POSC said that during the one-year trial run, it will be acting as PCSO’s exclusive agent and generating gross revenues equivalent to 14 percent of PCSO’s gross sales generated using the platform.

The POSC is part of a joint venture that bagged the five-year contract bid out by the PCSO in 2021 to implement the PLS for a winning bid of P5.8 billion.