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LOTTO BACK;
 regulatory rules followed," Me-
Fn$il [l dialdeasaidinatextmessase.
Mr. Duterte late on Friday
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orderi:d the suspension of the
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ByJulie M. Aurelio PCSO'S gaming operations due
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@JMAurelioINQ to "massive corruption" in the T
agency.
President Duterte has lifted the The President said the cor-
suspension of the popular lotto ruption involved some courts
games ofthe Philippine Charity - that issued injunctions against
il
Sweepstakes Office (PCSO). the government, and contracts
Milacaiang announced the that favored certain parties'
t
retirm oflotto in a statement on His order has led to the clo-
Tuesday night, four days after sure of more than 3o,ooo gam-
s
Mr. Duterte ordered the sus- iRg outlets since Saturday.
ir
pension of the PCSO'S gaming On Monday, Malacaiang
operations. promised a swift investigation
,.As per the advice ofExecu- of the irregularities, holding out
WHAT'S GOING ON HERE? Justice Secretary Menardo c

:tive Sec;etary Salvador Medial- hope for a=n early return oi the
Guevarra says the NBI probe will look into "what's happening a

lcSo's popular games. inside the Pcso," whose office in Mandaluyong City is shown in t
dea, the suspension oflotto op- I
lift- Earlieri on T-uesday, Justice the picture above without the usual crowds of people collecting
erations has been ordered t
edbythe President," presiden- secretary Menardo Guevarra their lotto winnings. -erue c, uoxrtcntloe
I
tial spokesperson Salvador said the National Bureau of ln-
Panelo said. vestigation's probe woirld focus
But the rest of the Pcso's on wheths the government had lost and sincewhen. - "I'm sure thatthose affetted
games with franchises, licenses was getting its righiiul share of .. ':lwl*g talking nbout bil" are not that poor' They ealned a
and permits, such as the sma[ the ;"rr,inls f.o-- the Pcso's lioni of ieios here. Not simply lot during those times that they
town lottery, Keno and Perya- gaming opelations. hundreds of millions, but bil- were operating, so I'm sure
" "nrit tnat's onty one side ofit," lions over a period of time," they have spare funds to live
han ng Bayin remain suspend-
ed "pe"nding the investigation of Guevarra" totd re-porters on the Guevarra said' on"'he said'
illegal activities and colrupt sidetines of thi World Day "The government lost big Panelo said the govern-
praitices until the office of the Against Trafficking in Persons time.It will go,I would suppose ment currently had no inter-
president. evaluates the results piogram in lasay Oty. "The other this may go all the way five years vention program to help the
or at the very least since displaced workers, but it could
of [the]probe,,, panelo said. iide-will probabiy focus on what's back
,,Fraachise holders and op- happening insid; the PCSO: That 2016, or the time that this admin- wolk out some form of assis-
erators oflotto outlets may now willbe aninvestigation of its own istationtook ovel," he said. tance in the future'
resume with their operations. officials and employees." The closure of the PCSO'S

The lifting ofthe suspension of gaming stations left more than 'Human spilit'
lotro oper;ions takei effect im- 'Gov't tost big time' 12o,ooo people-according to Pressed on what the goverr-
mediately,,,he added. Asked who the officials and an estimate by Sen. Nancy Bi- meqt could do for those people,
M€dialdea confirmed the employees were, he said: "That nay-without jobs. Panelo said: "I don't think they
lifting ofthe suspension of lotto. witi lC for the NBI to find out. Panelo, however, said earlier have absolutely nothing right
,,iirr"stigatois found no
[ir- Me, frankly, I do not lknow who on Tuesday that the workers at now. Second, they werd still OK
regutaritiesl iD the conduct of theyalel." the gaming stations were "not even when the llottol outlets
its operation, its sanctity re.. - i{e aiso had no information that Poor" as they had savings wer€ not yet there' They man-
mained untainted and pioper in irow mucfr tfre government that they could now use' aged to get by even when they
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were not lyet lotto] employees."
He addedr "Do notunderesti-
mate; do not underestimate the
human spirit of Filipinos. When
there's a storm or thallenge in
our lives, we can still survive.
This is only temporary."
The President, he said, had
no plans to abolish the Pcso.
Panelo gave assurance that
if the PCSO would be folded, it
would "be done in the constitu-
tional way."
He said Mr. Duterte would
soon announce his plan for keep-
ing comrption out of tfle agency.
Malacanang has not dis-
closed what PCSO General Man-
ager Royina Garma told Mr. Du-
terte during their meeting on
Friday other than that she asked
the President for help in elimi
nating corruption in the agency.
Two hours after their meet- .the illegal rather than the le.
ing, Mr. Duterte ordered the gal?" he told reporters.
PcSO's games shuttered.
Sen. Panfilo Lacson on Mon-
day said lotto should have been
spared, noting that there were
no allegations of corruption in-
volving the lottery.
Sen. Risa Hontiveros said
the President should have run
only after crooked PCSO offi-
cials and employees and not in-
volved ordinary citizens in pun-
ishing those people.
"It's not a simple matter,"
Panelo responded on Tuqsday.
"It's not that simple. That's
why he is conducting a thor-
ough probe."
BotI Guevara and Panelo
insisted that Mr. Duterte's ver-
bal order to shut down the PCSO
games was legal.
The justice secretary said a
written order would be issued
soon, but the presidential
spokesperson said it was "not
needed."
"The directive of the Presi-
dent, even ifverbal, is legal. As I
said, it's legal so iflt's legal, you
don't have to put it down in
writing," Panelo said.
, Sen. Richard Gordon, chair
ofthe Senate's blue ribbon com-
mittee, said earlier on Tuesday
that he planned to open an in-
quiry into the President's order
to shut down the PCSO'S gam-
ing operations.
Gordon said he would look
into the reason behind Mr. Du-
terte's order.
"Is it because there is actual
corruption? Is it because there
really is more money going to
Gordon said the inquiry
could be opened motu proprio,
or onhis own initiative.
Supplemental budget
Iligan City Rep. Frederick
Siao called on the Departmenl
of Budget and Management
and the Department of Fi
nance to assess the impact ol
the closures on the govern"
ment's finances, and teli
Congress if a supplemental
budgetwas needed.
"If a supplemental budget is
quicldy needed, the budget bill
for this purpose has to be certi.
fied as urgent bythe President,'
Siao said. -wrrH REPoRTS FRor
JEROME ANING, !EI!A 8. SAIAVERII'
AND DrvtNA M.sus;N INQ