Skip to main content

PCSO's Balutan, Atong Ang clash over STL earnings

--- © Provided by GMA News Online ---

Philippine Charity Sweepstakes Office (PCSO) General Manager Alexander Balutan has locked horns with gaming consultant Charlie "Atong" Ang over PCSO's P5.018-billion earnings from the expanded Small Town Lottery (STL) from January to May.

Ang accused Balutan of "sugarcoating" the actual sales of STL, saying  since STL has a potential gross revenue of P5 billion a month, earnings from the five-month period should be higher than P5 billion or at least P25 billion.

"With General Manager Balutan's statement, niloloko lang niya ang gobyerno," Ang said in a statement Thursday. "I'm challenging them to show the breakdown and I will prove that they are sugarcoating the actual  sales of STL."

Balutan flatly denied Ang's accusation. "There is no way that the government can under-declare its revenues under the expanded STL," he said.

"There is no sugarcoating that the PCSO is already gaining ground in its fight against illegal gambling. We’ve gained P5.018-billion from January to May and that is a 173.38 percent increase from the past year. That is a fact," Balutan added.

The PCSO introduced the STL to combat jueteng, an illegal numbers game.

Balutan dared Ang to prove his claim with evidence.

"Come here to my office and I'll be more than willing to open the books of my agency for you," Balutan said. "Release evidence, Atong, and don't just go on babbling."

Ang has been critical of Balutan, a retired military general, as well as PCSO chairman Jose Jorge Corpuz, a retired policeman. He said both are undeserving of their current posts.

"It needs an expert and well-connected network to run the gaming business," Ang said. "Hindi puwede na kung sino-sino lang magpatakbo, it requires a concerted effort with all players in the industry which you have to build through times.".

Balutan, meanwhile, blasted Ang for his alleged unpaid tax liabilities that he said are currently being looked upon by the Bureau of Internal Revenue.

"Maybe you could use your P2.37 billion monthly income from jueteng and the virtual two numbers game to settle your P25-billion unpaid taxes to the government," he said. —KBK, GMA News

Labels:

Popular posts from this blog

Cimatu warns miners: Don’t befoul watersheds, forests, aquatic resources

© Provided by Mediamerge Corporation Newly-appointed Environment and Natural Resources Secretary Roy Cimatu poses for a photo before being sworn into office by President Rodrigo Duterte ahead of the 15th Cabinet meeting in Malacañang on Monday, May 7, 2017. Robinson Niñal/PPD Environment Secretary Roy Cimatu on Tuesday warned mining firms to observe responsible mining and avoid destructive practices or face sanctions His pronouncement came in response to President Rodrigo Duterte's second State of the Nation Address, in which the chief executive emphasized mining's impact on the environment. "I know for a fact that in a number of cases, weak and irresponsible mining practices result [in] environmental destruction—contaminating farmlands and poisoning our rivers and seas," Cimatu said in a statement. "Miners better refrain from despoiling our watersheds, forests and aquatic resources," he added. Cimatu said the Department of Environment and Natural Res...
Read more

You can pay at a restaurant by smiling at a camera

© Provided by Engadget As easy as it is to make purchases in the era of tap-to-pay services , it's about to get easier still. Alipay (which handles purchases for Chinese shopping giant Alibaba) has launched what it says is the first payment system that uses facial recognition to complete the sale. If you visit one of KFC's KPRO restaurants in Hangzhou, China, you can pay for your panini or salad by smiling at a camera-equipped kiosk -- you need to verify the purchase on your phone, but you don't have to punch in digits or bring your phone up to an NFC reader. The system (Smile to Pay) is purportedly resistant to spoofing with photos and other tricks. It relies on both depth-sensing cameras and a "likeness detection algorithm" to make sure it's really you. Reportedly, the technology is good enough that it can accurately identify people even when they're disguising themselves through makeup or wigs. You shouldn't have to worry about someone buying ...
Read more

Tesla cloud account hacked to mine cryptocurrency

© Provided by The Hill An unidentified outside hacker infiltrated Tesla's Amazon cloud account and used its systems to quietly mine for cryptocurrencies, a cybersecurity firm announced Tuesday. The hack also potentially exposed the electric car company's data. Researchers for RedLock found that Tesla's credentials on an IT administrative console were not password protected. They made the discovery while trying to track down which organizations had left their Amazon Web Services (AWS) credentials openly exposed on the internet last month. The hackers quietly hijacked the console and began running scripts to generate virtual currency like bitcoin, the latest in a series of "cryptojacking" attacks. The researchers also found the hackers used "sophisticated evasion measures" to go undetected. A spokesperson for Tesla said the company learned about the breach in a company-sanctioned bug bounty program that pays outside hackers to discover vulnerabilitie...
Read more