THE PHILIPPINE Charity Sweepstakes Office (PCSO) on Tuesday (June 18) described as dubious and highly questionable the graft and plunder complaint filed before the Ombudsman by a group calling itself FPJPM, against some of its top officials relative to the agency’s e-lotto agreement with a private company.

In an interview, PCSO General Manager Mel Robles explained that the technical rules on the agency’s betting platforms, which include e-lotto have been approved by the Office of the President (OP).

GM Robles elaborated that the PCSO is conducting e-lotto pursuant to the authority given by the OP in 2021, given that it has sufficient authority and is in a better position to evaluate and approve its technical guidelines on betting platforms for the minimum technical requirements for PCSO games. 

“The OP guidance, being an act of the executive, remains valid until amended, revoked, or replaced by its issuing authority,” he pointed out. 

He added that the conduct of e-lotto is in accordance with the advice of PCSO’s statutory counsel, the Office of the Government Corporate Counsel (OGCC), which also found the Memorandum of Agreement dated August 30, 2023 with Pacific Online System Corporation, tenable. 

The OGCC has already clarified its earlier stand that policy considerations call for the payment of commissions in the form of reasonable costs, at a rate capped by PCSO Board of Directors according to its sound business judgment.