The Small Town Lottery operations in the country are strictly monitored and controlled by the government, the Philippine Charity Sweepstakes Office assured yesterday.
The PCSO also said that all its games are conducted in a transparent and professional manner, assuring the public of the integrity of every game.
“PCSO is in full control of all its gaming operations, including the STL to generate “Serbisyo, Trabaho, at Laro” for the Filipino people nationwide,” Chairman Jose Jorge E. Corpuz said in a statement.
In the same statement, Corpuz denied the allegations of a Charlie “Atong” Ang of Meridien Vista Gaming Corp. that he, along with other government officials, plotted to kill him to eliminate any competition for the STL.
Ang, who also alleged that the PCSO is bent on stopping his gaming operations in favor of the STL, operates a virtual jai-alai numbers game through Meridian Vista Gaming Corp.
“I have no knowledge about any plan to have Mr. Atong Ang killed by anyone to eliminate him as competition for the Small Town Lottery,” Corpuz said.
The PCSO chair added that “it is very unlikely for DoJ Secretary Vitaliano Aguirre II and National Security Adviser Hermogenes Esperon Jr., who are both committed public servants, to be behind this alleged attempts to kill Mr. Ang.”
Esperon called Ang a “paranoid gambling lord and tax evader” after the latter implicated him in the assassination plot.
He tried to implicate Ang in illegal activities while denying allegations he wanted him dead to control of STL operations in some provinces.
“Let me categorically deny that I have threatened him. He should show evidence or witnesses that I want to see him dead,” Esperon said in a statement.
“It is very likely that he is concocting tall tales again as in past years or is simply paranoid which is typical of people who engage in illegal activities. Mr. Ang is a known gambling lord, operating jueteng through his illegal off fronton shops,” Esperon stressed.
Like Corpuz and Esperon, Aguirre also denied Ang’s allegations.
“I categorically deny all the accusations of Atong Ang for being complete fabrications,” Aguirre said as he expressed willingness to subject himself to any kind of probe.
