BACOLOD City – The complaint that the Globaltech Mobile Online Gaming Corp. filed against Philippine Charity Sweepstakes Office (PCSO) executive assistant VI Manuel Fraginal Sr. is a form of “plain harassment,” according to PCSO general manager Alexander Balutan.
Globaltech provincial administrator Lito Estember lodged the complaint against Fraginal after the latter ordered the closure of the Peryahan ng Bayan draw court in Bacolod.
Fraginal said the draw court, which is located along Burgos-Lacson streets, is “unauthorized and illegal.”
Fraginal, also the chief of PCSO’s Nationwide Inter-Branch Security Monitoring division, received a subpoena for grave coercion and alarm and scandal on Tuesday.
Investigating Prosecutor Edward Pascua from the Bacolod City Prosecutor’s Office issued the subpoena.
“This (complaint) is plainly harassment,” Balutan said on Thursday. “The Peryahan being operated by Globaltech in some parts of the country is illegal and must be closed.”
In 2016, PCSO terminated Globaltech’s Deed of Authority to operate Peryahan ng Bayan draw centers in the country due to various violations.
Globaltech owes PCSO an estimated P100 million worth of unremitted revenues.
In October 2017, the Regional Trial Court Branch 161 in Pasig City junked Globaltech’s prayer for writ of injunction.
“The PCSO has not authorized any other entity to operate Peryahan. Any operation of Peryahan is unauthorized and illegal,” Balutan stressed.
On April 16, Fraginal led a team that padlocked the Bacolod Peryahan draw center.
According to the PCSO, the closure was in line with President Rodrigo Duterte’s Executive Order 13, calling for an intensified fight against illegal gambling in the country.
Fraginal, for his part, said he was only doing his job, adding that averting illegal gambling operations is also the responsibility of local government units and the local police.
“Ang problema, hindi sila gumagalaw. ‘E paano mapapataas ang revenue collection natin sa pamamagitan ng ating Small Town Lottery at iba pang lottery games sa lugar na ‘yan kung may iligal namang peryahan at iba pa?” Fraginal stressed.
On May 9, National Bureau of Investigation (NBI) personnel arrested and detained 20 Peryahan personnel in Negros Occidental – nine in Bacolod City and 11 in Escalante City.
The NBI filed charges against them on the same day, too.
Two days after, Escalante Peryahan personnel posted bail and were released./PN
