A Small Town Lottery (STL) franchisee in the province of Iloilo may no longer resume its operations.

Red Subay Gaming Corporation is the lone firm authorized by the Philippine Charity Sweepstakes Office (PCSO) to operate in the whole province.

Lawyer Romel Duron, legal counsel and one of the incorporators of Red Subay, said they can only resume their operations if they remit P390 million to PCSO.

STL authorized agent corporations (AACs) are required to remit their Presumptive Monthly Retail Receipts (PMRR).

The amount of PMRR is determined by the PCSO as the presumed minimum monthly sales of an AAC.

“Nagdaku ang amon balayran bangud mandatory na ang paghold sang draw three times a day,” Duron explained in an interview over radio station RMN-Iloilo.

The minimum remittance of STL agents is at least 30% percent of the voting population where they operate, multiplied by P2.50, multiplied by 3 (number of draws per day), and multiplied by 30 (average number of days in a month).

Red Subay started to operate in the province in September last year. It replaced Eagle Crest Gaming and Holding Corp. as the province’s exclusive STL operator.

Last week, PCSO general manager Royina Garma announced that President Rodrigo Duterte “lifted the suspension of operations of STL.”

But only those “that are compliant with the conditions of their STL agency agreement are allowed to operate again, according to Garma.

The conditions are as follows:

•The AACs shall deposit with the PCSO a cash bond equivalent to three months of the PCSO’s share in the Guaranteed Minimum Monthly Retail Receipts (GMMRR) on top of their existing cash bonds.

•Upon failure to timely and fully remit their GMMRR during the duration of operations, the AACs’ cash bond equivalent to three months of the PCSO’s share in the GMMRR shall be automatically forfeited in favor of PCSO, without prejudice to the other remedies that may be exercised by the government.

•Each AAC shall execute a written undertaking that it shall comply with its obligations under the STL agency agreement and will not institute any claims, monetary or otherwise, against the government, and/or apply for a temporary restraining order or injunction from any court to prevent the government from exercising its rights and prerogatives.

•The STL agency agreement shall automatically be terminated upon violation of the conditions of their franchise and/or any of the above conditions without prejudice to the other remedies that may be exercised by the government.

Garma revealed yesterday, Aug. 27, that no AAC has so far complied with the conditions.

“So ngayon, walang STL dapat na nag-ooperate anywhere dito sa ating bansa. Wala pang nag-comply. Our office is now open for them to comply, lahat yun, and it was already announced to them,” she said.

Duterte suspended last month all gaming operations with franchises, licenses or permits granted by the PCSO due to “massive corruption.”IMT