HEADLINES
Barbers seeks House inquiry into questionable E-lotto contract
1/22/24, 4:40 AM
As many lotto bettors raised their eyebrows after an e-lotto bettor won Php 640-million last week, the insistence of the Philippine Charity Sweepstakes Office to operate e-lotto will be scrutinized by the House of Representatives.
This, after Surigao del Norte Rep. Robert Ace Barbers revealed that the Office of the Government Corporate Counsel had cautioned PCSO General Manager Melquiades Robles against entering into a disadvantageous contract with e-lotto operator Pacific Online Corporation.
Barbers filed a House resolution calling for a congressional inquiry into the PCSO decision that apparently ignored OGCC’s legal opinion on the issue.
While the investigation will dig into the multi-billion peso e-lotto contract, House members may stray into the Lotto 49 incident that saw a lone bettor hit the Php 640-million jackpot through e-lotto.
E-lotto betting is relatively unknown to millions of lotto players who placed bets for Lotto 49 that offered one of the largest jackpots in PCSO’s lottery history.
The Commission on Audit is also expected to scrutinize the contract when the state lottery agency submits to its annual audit examination this year.
“The recently implemented e-lotto has become very controversial in the light of the January 16 6/49 lotto draw with the allegedly lone online winning bettor getting the 640 Million jackpot,” said Barbers in a statement.
“It is now becoming clear that even without the approval by the OGCC, Robles proceeded with the implementation of the contract,” he noted.
Barbers added: “I hope he has a valid reason for doing so despite the findings by the OGCC that such contract is disadvantageous to the government, therefore violative of the Graft and Corrupt Practices Act.”
The veteran lawmaker said ignoring the OGCC legal opinion made Robles put the PCSO in a bind and exposes it to lawsuits.”
“Instead of heeding the OGCC call, he threw all cautions to the wind and wantonly implemented the contract,” Barbers stressed.
According to Barbers. Robles will be asked to justify his decision to disregard the findings of the OGCC, which acts as the legal counsel of all state-owned corporations like the PCSO.
He said the OGCC clearly had the best legal interest of the PCSO in mind when it cautioned the firm against entering into a contract for the operation of the E-lotto.
It was not immediately known whether or not the E-lotto contract had been subjected to public bidding before it was awarded to Pacific Online.