Maliksi wants to revoke STL, exempt PCSO from remitting money to national gov’t

Former Cavite Rep. Erineo “Ayong” Maliksi, now PCSO chairman. Photo from congress.gov.ph

Chairman Erineo “Ayong” Maliksi of the Philippine Charity Sweepstakes Office (PCSO) wants to revoke the authority of all small town lottery (STL) operators in the country and give its operations exclusively to a maximum of two operators nationwide.

In his letter to President Benigno Aquino III dated July 13, 2015, or merely four months after assuming office as PCSO chairman, Maliksi also asked him to allow the PCSO to turn back on its obligations by exempting it from remitting dividends to the national government despite that it is mandated by Republic Act 7656.

Maliksi claims that with his proposal to eliminate all STL operators from the game, revenues of PCSO will increase.

But the PCSO board said the best way to increase STL revenues is to expand in other cities and provinces that are currently have no STL operations.

Based on the recommendations of the PCSO assistant general managers of the Gaming, Product Development and Marketing Sector and Branch Operations, the PCSO board passed a resolution in 2014 to go into the direction of expanding STL operations nationwide.

STL sales account for only about 12 percent of PCSO’s revenues from games with lotto still the number source of revenues.

In the same letter, Maliksi told President Aquino that he is aiming “to amend pertinent laws to abolish PCSO’s mandatory contributions to various government agencies.”

Under Maliksi’s plan, PCSO will no longer give contributions to the Philippine Sports Commission (PSC), Commission on Higher Education (CHED), Philippine Drug Enforcement Agency (PDEA) and Dangerous Drugs Board (DDB).