IN line with its current board of directors’ objective to open a branch in every province, the Philippine Charity Sweepstakes Office (PCSO) inaugurated its Zamboanga del Norte provincial office in Dipolog City on October 20.
PCSO Directors Mabel V. Mamba and Francisco G. Joaquin III represented the PCSO at the launch, which was also attended by Vice Gov. Senen O. Angeles of Zamboanga del Norte, municipal mayors, other local officials and local Lotto agents.
The provincial government generously allotted to the PCSO 159 square meters of office space in its Provincial Disaster Risk Reduction and Management Office building in Barangay Biasong under a rent-free arrangement for 25 years.
Angeles welcomed the PCSO officials to the province, and thanked the agency for being its “new partner” in delivering medical and health care-related services to the province’s residents.
“Without any hesitation, the Sangguniang Panlalawigan [provincial council] gave the governor [Roberto Y. Uy] full authority to negotiate with the PCSO for the establishment of an office,” Angeles said. “We cannot believe that, in less than a month, the PCSO has completed the office and are now here to open and inaugurate it.”
He also said the new PCSO branch, the agency’s 41st, “not only caters to the Lotto bettors, but most especially to…the underprivileged persons in our community.”
For his part, Joaquin said the branch’s inauguration allows the PCSO to “be closer to you” in terms of service delivery, such as processing medical-assistance requests and Lotto-agent support.
He emphasized that, since the agency does not receive any funding at all from the national government, and all its funds come from Lotto and its other gaming revenues, more public support for PCSO games means more funds for its charity programs.
“We thank those who buy Lotto tickets,” Joaquin said. “We can’t give what we don’t have, so keep on playing so we can keep on helping.” He also invited the province’s entrepreneurs to set up more Lotto outlets in partnership with the PCSO.
The two PCSO directors also turned over to the local officials checks for the province, cities and municipalities that represent their shares from the January-to-June 2014 Lotto revenues of outlets hosted in the area.
The province received P455, 544.36 and Dipolog City got P1.42 million, while Dapitan City and 18 municipalities received their corresponding shares for a total of P3.091 million released by the PCSO that day. The more Lotto outlets hosted by an area, the higher the Lotto local government unit (LGU) shares it may receive.
After the Dipolog branch was inaugurated, Mamba, Joaquin and Angeles became the first players of Lotto there by buying tickets at the newly installed game machine. All PCSO branches nationwide have at least one Lotto terminal for the convenience of patrons.
The PCSO, which is celebrating its 80th anniversary this year, has opened 16 branches since 2012 under its current board of directors. The Dipolog branch is its eighth in Mindanao. Another branch will be established in Marinduque province next month, for a total of seven opened this year. Six to seven more will be set up in 2015.
Other branches that opened earlier this year were those in Aklan, Bukidnon, Capiz, Ilocos and Mindoro.
The PCSO’s vision for expansion encompasses the entire country. Insofar as it is feasible and safe, we will try to open a branch in each of the country’s 81 provinces. At this point, we’re halfway there.
We renew our invitation to LGU officials to partner with the PCSO by providing rent-free office space in their province’s capital or major city and give their residents more convenient access to the agency’s services and products.
This entire week, we are marking our 80th anniversary with various activities, including a medical mission. We look forward to serving the Filipino people for eight decades more and beyond.
Atty. Jose Ferdinand M. Rojas II is the vice chairman and general manager of the Philippine Charity Sweepstakes Office.