Duterte cites cuts in remittances from STL, Peryahan ng Bayan as reason in halting operations

August 5, 2019

President Rodrigo Duterte said on Monday he had to stop operations of other gaming schemes of the Philippine Charity Sweepstakes Office ( PCSO) because of cuts in the amount of money being remitted. 

"STL (small time lottery), Peryahan ng Bayan. Son of a b*****, they are being corrupted. Their remittances were being cut," said Duterte in a speech in Malacañang. 

He did not mention who were involved in the corruption.

Duterte had ordered the stop of all PCSO gaming schemes, including lotto, on July 26. But on July 30, he ordered lotto operations resumed as there was no corruption in this scheme, according to Malacañang.

Duterte lamented corruption in government, including also at the Bureau of Customs.

He said the 64 BOC employees whom he previously called in the Palace would surely be removed from the agency.

"I just fired 64, but if I could get away with the 100 more I think we’ll have a cleaner, a better Customs, BIR (Bureau of Internal Revenue). But perhaps these 64, they would really be removed," he said.

"And they have been there for 36, 38 years without necessarily offending anybody," Duterte added. Celerina Monte/DMS