New scheme, expansion of STL seen to generate billions in revenues
By February 1, the government will implement a new scheme and expansion of the small-town lottery (STL) system which would generate billions of pesos in revenues each year.
Justice Secretary Vitaliano Aguirre II on Tuesday said under the new scheme, STL operators would be required to submit to the Philippine Charity Sweepstakes Office (PCSO) a Presumptive Monthly Retail Receipts (PMRR) which is the “amount determined by the PCSO as the presumed minimum monthly sales of an Authorized Agent Corporation (AAC) which shall be subject to monthly review.”
“What we did is put a minimum, the PMRR. Presumably that is the quota than an operator should remit to the PCSO every month,” Aguirre explained adding that it would ensure that STL operators would not be able to cheat the government on their sales and revenues which he added was rampant in the past.
Aguirre explained that the amount to be remitted by the operator will be based on revenues generated per area.
For example, he said in areas like Bulacan, Quezon and Laguna where STL is very popular, operators earn as much as P20 to 30 million everyday. If a minimum of P10 million can be remitted to the PCSO daily, the government could earn as much as P300 million a month in one province alone.
He assured that STL operators would still be able to earn despite the new scheme adding that before they entered into such business, they have already factored in the cost of operations plus the revenues or taxes they would have to pay the government.
If STL operators failed to remit the PMRR every month or remitted less than what is required, the the PCSO would get the amount from the bond they have paid to be allowed to operate the lottery system.
To ensure that the amount will not be corrupted in the PCSO, Aguirre said the latter will issue receipts for the PMRR which he stressed did not happen during the previous administration.
STL was created to stop the illegal numbers game of jueteng.
The PCSO said there are only 18 authorized agent corporations all over the country accredited for STL operations while 190 other operators have applied for licenses but have been rejected by the previous administration. RAM/rga
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