SENATOR Robinhood “Robin” C. Padilla on Monday pushed for the filing of criminal cases against delinquent operators of Small Town Lottery, especially those who disappear after failing to remit their earnings to the Philippine Charity Sweepstakes Office (PCSO).
Padilla made the call after learning that the PCSO has yet to collect a whopping P5 billion from STL operators who “disappear” after their franchises were terminated.
“Sa palagay ko, mga mahal kong kasama sa Senado, palagay ko po itong usaping ito, kailangan hindi na maging civil case. Dapat maging criminal case ito (My Senate colleagues, I believe this is no longer a matter of filing civil cases but of criminal cases),” he said at the hearing of the Senate Committee on Games and Amusements.
Padilla was disturbed after learning during the hearing that the PCSO has yet to file criminal cases against STL operators who did not remit their earnings, and merely terminated their franchises.
He stressed the PCSO must be on the lookout against “hunyango” or chameleon-like operators who not only fail to remit their earnings but may also try to register for new franchises using different names.
“Dito sa ating bansa maraming hunyango rito (There are so many chameleons in our midst),” aniya.
For his part, Sen. Raffy Tulfo said the issue raised by Padilla may be tackled in the next hearing. “That is a very good issue you raised,” he told Padilla. “Sa next hearing tatalakayin natin yan saan napunta ang P5 bilyon na yan (In the next hearing we will tackle where the P5 billion went).”
