It surfaced that President Rodrigo Duterte was heartbroken upon hearing the story of a Small Town Lottery (STL) bettor who supposedly won but was never paid by the operator. This was what made the President lose his temper over the irregularities at the Philippine Charity Sweepstakes.
He could no longer stomach what he heard finally from a reliable source, PCSO’s new general manager Royina Garma, the former Cebu City Police chief.
Within weeks since she took office, Garma substantiated the allegations of massive graft and corruption at PCSO. Upon hearing the misfortune of the unpaid STL winner, Manong Digong just blew his top.
While PCSO officials connive with the syndicated operators of STL, which has become a front for jueteng and rake in billions and billions of pesos, here we have an STL winner who never got his cash prize from the operator of the concerned PCSO outlet.
The operator reportedly sold his franchise and the new PCSO franchise holder did not honor the winning STL bettor.
For all you know, either of the operator must have pocketed the cash prize, along with the unremitted proceeds due the PCSO. The PCSO should pay the winnings of the poor man.
To cut the story short, Manong Digong was angered and decided there is no way all these madness at the PCSO can go on.
And, this came in the wake of the exposé on the multi-billion peso anomalies in the PhilHealth.
Who could not understand the disappointment and frustration the President showed during his last State of the Nation Address over the rampant corruption in the government three years into his term?
To cut the story short, he ordered the shutdown of all PCSO operations, shocking the nation.
But, just as abruptly as he did, the President four days later ordered the lifting of the suspension of Lotto operations.
Just as the President was devastated by the story of the STL, who was deprived of his winnings, Manong Digong was touched by the plea of the tens of thousands of people who depend on the operations of PCSO outlets.
As soon as Manong Digong found out that the Lotto operations is free from corruption, unlike the STL and other PCSO games, the President ordered the immediate lifting of Lotto operations’ suspension.
Again, Manong Digong proved to be a President with a pusong-mamon.
