By Mylene C. Orillo
Philippine Charity Sweepstakes Office (PCSO) General Manager Alexander Balutan are now accepting four applications of Small Town Lottery (STL) for the provinces of Iloilo (except Iloilo City), Cavite, Davao Occidental, and Masbate.
Balutan said applications for Davao and Masbate will be opened until June 8, 2018; while for Iloilo and Cavite is until June 15, 2018.
Interested applicants must submit complete documents to the STL Advisory Committee located at the 4th Floor, Sun Plaza Building, 605 Shaw Boulevard, Mandaluyong City.
From January to April this year, STL revenues have already contributed to almost P8 billion in the P20.8 billion sales of PCSO, and that includes Lotto and digit games, Keno, and Sweepstakes with an increase of 29.30 percent from the same period last year.
From 84, there are now 81 STL operators due to the termination of erring AACs because of repeated violations of the STL-IRR, especially under-remittance of the Presumptive Monthly Retail Receipt (PMRR).
“We will not hesitate to terminate more if they don’t pay the correct PMRR,” said Balutan.
Balutan revealed that he frequently receives private messages on Facebook, asking him to give them “lucky” numbers or tell them the secret to winning the jackpot prizes.
“Lottery is a game of luck or chance. Everyone has fair chances of winning. We do not give lucky numbers because all our games are automated. We have strict implementation when it comes to our draw procedures. We have to make sure that your bets are really there,” clarified Balutan.
Some gamers use different strategies or techniques, picking their birthdates or their husbands or children, or anniversaries. Some people rely on their dreams. But some really lucky gamers play the Lucky Pick where the machine picks random numbers for them, and with a stroke of luck, they get the winning combinations.
“Besides, you cannot win a lottery without buying a ticket, plus the chances of winning a lottery jackpot can vary widely depending on several factors: lottery design, count of possible numbers, or count of winning numbers drawn.”
But if there’s a secret to winning the lottery that Balutan would like to reveal to everyone, that is to buy a ticket and buy more tickets.
“You cannot win without buying a lottery ticket, obviously. But even if you don’t win, at least you know that part of it goes to charity. Bumili ka na ng ticket, nakatulong ka pa. Sa ibinili mo nakapag-kawanggawa ka pa,” Balutan said.
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