By Mario B. Casayuran
The Senate games and amusement committee is considering inviting Rodolfo ‘‘Bong’’ Pineda, husband of Pampanga Gov. Lilia Pineda, to appear in its next public hearing.
Pineda is considered a gambling lord that has tapped into legalized small town lottery (STL) operations in many Luzon provinces.
Senator Panfilo Lacson believes inviting Pineda is a must.
“He is operating in many provinces and many guerilla and bookie operations. Dapat lang,’’ he said.
Lacson said gambling lords are in the STL business because they are able to fix the computations so that they only remit a very small amount to the Philippine Charity Sweepstakes Office (PCSO) but amass huge profits themselves.
The National Bureau of Investigation (NBI) has stated that illegal STL operations rake in R51 billion annually in potential revenues.
In yesterday’s public hearing, Lacson said witnesses pointed to so many weaknesses in the system that allows corruption to take place at the PCSO.