And the winner is…

Sometime in 1996 I remember getting suspended and eventually fired from my first job in a small radio station for belligerently resisting to read what I felt and believed was the equivalent of endorsing and encouraging listeners to bet on “Lotto.” As a “born again” Christian I sincerely believed it was the least I could do to resist if not fight government promoted gambling that was in its early years. I also believed that “requiring” or pressuring hosts to read materials given to AOB or announcer on board was not part of the job description, and illegal, or at the very least improper. Before you throw a fit at the injustice, it did not bother me because even before that door closed on me, God had already opened the gates of ABS-CBN / ANC for me, where I got a lot of breaks.

Since then the Lotto has carried on, evolved and is now viewed by many as the 50/50 reality, meaning its 50% bad because its gambling and 50% good because of all the money it collects and distributes to poor people faced with serious medical needs and in dire need of assistance. And because it is state sponsored – it is legal. Others simply treat it as their weekly injection for hope or aspiration that God or lady luck would have their number at the draw. I recently interviewed officials from the PCSO for my TV program AGENDA which is aired on Cignal TV daily, and one topic we could not get away from was how numerous winners here and abroad end up poorer if not more miserable a year after winning the “jackpot.”

Most Lotto bettors never had a lot of money and so they don’t know how to take care of the money except to spend it and to a limited degree, to spread it. When asked what they would do if they won the Lotto jackpot which reached somewhere in the P847 million mark, most people said they would buy a house, then a car, and provide for family. Some also mentioned giving to charity and particularly to build a church in their community. Apparently many priests are still waiting to get the promised check or donation. The initial thought is that the return to poverty is due to ignorance or being poor in a third world country. But the same observations have been made in developed nations where they also have lotteries and where people live better off and are in a society that supports its citizen through universal health care as well as other forms of social welfare assistance. So apparently poverty is not the issue but rather financial ignorance.

After years of hearing these tales I now suggested to my guests from PCSO to consider making it their CSR or corporate social responsibility commitment to establish a system and requirement for winners to undergo mentoring, training and even monitoring toward financial literacy and responsibility so that today’s winners become long term success stories instead or staying in the vicious cycle of loser-winner-loser. My guests explained that it might be perceived as unethical to “meddle” or in any way influence how winners handle their money, not to mention that it is not the core business of PCSO.

All that is true, but in the real world gun dealers now require buyers to undergo tests and training before being allowed to buy and own a gun. Even athletes are required to undergo medical examination before competing in high performance competitions or events. And in the case of the PCSO, they are the enablers of people to aspire for wealth, instant money and ultimately they give out the instrument – the jackpot, that is suppose to be a blessing but eventually turns out to be a “curse” for those who don’t know or can’t handle money.

It is also worth considering that if such stories continue to spread about the eventual downfall or return to poverty of past winners, how long before such an avoidable occurrence comes back to haunt the sales and popularity of Lotto? Wouldn’t it be better if the PCSO is seen as providing a holistic package from selling opportunities to enabling winners to create more opportunities and wealth? It may not be their job but it certainly is their moral responsibility and good for business and reputation management! Here’s hoping that the progressive minded executives at PCSO take this suggestion seriously.

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By the time this article sees print, I will probably be on my way back to Manila coming from Echague, Isabela where my teammates  from BMeg feeds and I conducted one of the last four remaining BMeg Fiestahan events. The remaining three will be in Tayug, Pangasinan (Oct. 9) San Miguel, Bulacan (Oct. 13) and Mangaldan, Pangasinan (Oct. 23). I really appreciate these trips not just for the opportunity to share my knowledge, experience as well as mistakes in backyard hog raising but also because I get a front row seat to learn about life in today’s provinces.

For instance, it’s noteworthy to mention that many beneficiaries of the 4Ps or the Conditional Cash Transfer program (CCT) have been participating in our BMeg Fiestahan events to learn and understand more about backyard hog raising and to figure out if it is something they could get into as another form of livelihood. Unlike  in Metro Manila or urban centers, many rural areas provide people with ample land and space to raise one or several pigs and marketing such livestock is simplified because they can sell it house to house in their own barangay. Perhaps it might be a viable option for the DSWD and the Department of Agriculture to team up and help set up barangay-based cooperatives to raise poultry and pigs first because there is power in numbers as well as incorporating such cash handouts. The community can then feed themselves with the produce at a much lower cost and still have leftover to sell to other markets and buyers.

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