Senate summons supplier of PCSO thermal paper amid substandard claims

Philippine Charity Sweepstakes Office Chair Melquiades Robles
INQUIRER file photo / NIÑO JESUS ORBETA

MANILA, Philippines — The supplier of thermal papers used by the Philippine Charity Sweepstakes Office (PCSO) for its lotto tickets was asked to attend Senate hearings as senators sought a review of the contract amid claims of substandard product.

During the hearing of the Senate committee on ways and means and the committee on games and amusement on Thursday, Philippine Online Lottery Agents Association Inc. (POLAAI) president Evelyn Javier told Senator Raffy Tulfo that aside from dwindling sales and malfunctioning machines, they are also confronted with tickets being damaged easily after PCSO changed suppliers.

“Mr. Chair, I’d like to add also na sometimes po it’s not naman the machine itself, ‘yon pong printing, ‘yon pong thermal, sometimes the ticket comes out po punit na.  So may problema po talaga tayo do’n sa thermal din at saka do’n sa ginagamit po na playslip,” Javier said.

(Mr. Chair I’d like to add also that sometimes it’s not the machine itself, the problem is with the printing, the thermal paper, sometimes the ticket comes out damaged already.  So there is really a problem with the thermal paper and the paper used for the playslip.)

When Tulfo asked PCSO General Manager Melquiades Robles as to why these thermal papers are easily damaged, the official replied by saying that it could be a result of poor handling.

But Javier clarified that they had never encountered the issues when lotto tickets were still using an orange thermal paper — which was eventually revealed to be printed by government firm APO Production Unit Inc.

PCSO is currently using pink-colored thermal papers now, which PCSO Assistant General Manager Lauro Patiag said was being supplied by a certain DTM Philippines.

This led Tulfo to ask that the committee secretariat now summon the thermal paper provider.

“No, we never had a problem kasi po before with our playslip, nagkakaro’n po kami ng shortage (before).  Pero ngayon kasi super nipis na po ‘yong pini-print ng PCSO,” Javier said.

(No, we never had a problem before with our playslip, we only encountered shortages before.  But now the paper used by PCSO is so thin.)

“Sa next hearing gusto ko pong patawag CommSec ‘yong thermal [paper] provider and then we have to inspect the quality of their product, and then ibabangga natin ‘yan sa mga third party na mga thermal [paper] provider, to make sure na it meets the general standards or global standards, kapareho sa ibang bansa.  Kasi ‘yong atin siguro baka very, very, very super low quality.  So gawin nating excellent quality,” Tulfo  said.

(On the next hearing, I want to call on the thermal (paper) provider, and then we have to inspect the quality of their product, and then we would compare it with third-party thermal providers to make sure that it meets the general standards or global standards, similar to other countries.  Maybe our product is at a very, very, very super low quality.  Let’s turn it into an excellent quality.)

“So ‘yong do’n sa present na contractor ninyo, I need the name, and I want him present next time, and tignan natin ‘yong kontrata and if we have to visit his facility, tignan natin baka mamaya ito’y hao-siao, baka mamaya sa isang garahe lamang ito (gumagawa), baka ‘yong mga papel galing lang sa, pinupulot sa tabi-tabi, pinagdudugtong,” he added.

(So for the present na contractor, I need the name, and I want him present next time, and we’ll look at the contract, and if we have to visit his facility, we’ll check because maybe this is a fly-by-night company making papers in a garage, papers might be picked off the streets and are being mended together.)

Senate Minority Leader Koko Pimentel then asked Kapisanan ng Lotto Agents Pati Tellers president Zenaida Salvador about the longevity of the current thermal papers — considering that lotto prizes won by bettors can be claimed up to one year after the combination was drawn.

Pimentel feared that there may be instances where people who won could no longer claim their prizes because the print on the thermal paper has faded already.

“Ngayon from the experience, lalo na ‘yong, siguro ng ating mga tellers eh syempre ang ating mga operators eh may mga (experience) — how soon nagpe-fade na ‘yong mga naka-print doon sa papel?  I’m sure after one year wala na siguro ‘yon jackpot ticket do’n, hindi mo na mababasa ‘yong mga numerong nando’n,” Pimentel asked.

(Now, from the experience, especially our tellers, our operators have also experienced this — how soon do the numbers on the paper fade?  I’m sure after one year, the jackpot combination is already missing there; you can no longer read the numbers.)

“‘Yong dati po, ‘yong orange, ‘yon ‘yong pinaka-maganda ‘yong print niya, matagal siya mag-fade.  Tapos meron ‘yong pink, ‘yong parang naranasan ko na medyo madali siyang mag-fade, pero di naman siya naabot ng one year, six to seven months,” Salvador replied.

(Before, the orange paper, that is the best print we had encountered, it takes a long time before fading.  But with the pink, we observed that it quickly fades; it does not even reach one year — just six to seven months.)

The two Senate committees are probing PCSO over several senators’ concerns regarding allegations that games are being rigged and that the office has entered into contracts that deprive lotto stall agents of income — like the online lotto venture by PCSO.

During the hearing last January 18, Tulfo also lashed out at PCSO officials after they proceeded the implementation of its digital betting platform without getting approval from authorities first, particularly the Office of the President (OP).

READ: PCSO confirms viral photo of lotto winner edited for security purposes 

Robles, however, said that Executive Secretary Lucas Bersamin allowed PCSO to determine the need for an online platform for lotto since it is more knowledgeable about this matter.

READ: Lawmaker hits, questions PCSO’s online lotto deal 

At the same time, PCSO was also grilled by the Senate over a viral photo of a lotto winner which appeared to be edited poorly, which also raised doubts among netizens as to whether the winners are actual people or mere individuals assigned to bag the prize money.