MANILA, Philippines — The Philippine Charity Sweepstakes Office (PCSO) has “most likely” lost P13 billion in revenues as lotto outlets suspended operations during the lockdown imposed by the national government to control COVID-19 transmission.
This was revealed by PCSO General Manager Royina Garma during Saturday’s Laging Handa online press briefing.
“Medyo malaki po ang estimate namin po namin is P13 billion per quarter po eh, so most likely P13 billion na nawala po na maaring kinita po ng aming ahensya mula po nung nag-lockdown,” Garma said.
(Our estimate is high, P13 billion per quarter, so most likely P13 billion was lost during the lockdown.)
Lotto draws were suspended since the government ordered the imposition of strict quarantine measures to address threats from COVID-19.
Previously, PCSO announced that it would slash the price of a lotto ticket to P20 from the previous P24 in order to boost revenue collections. A lower ticket price is seen to lure more bettors to play lotto.