ILOILO – Over 300 agents or bet collectors of the Small Town Lottery (STL) here and at least a thousand subagents are feeling the pinch. They have been displaced by the sudden suspension of the numbers game and are appealing for help.
“They are really hard up,” said Daryl Alibusa, operations manager of ZFIC Gaming Corp., the STL franchisee of the Philippine Charity Sweepstakes Office (PCSO).
ZFIC stopped operating beginning July 27 after President Rodrigo Duterte ordered the temporary suspension of all PCSO games – STL, lotto, Keno, Peryahan ng Bayan – due to “massive corruption.”
“Some of them went to our office at Lopez Arcade in Jaro district and asked for help. They said they did not have money to buy food. They have no other source of income,” Alibusa told Panay News.
ZFIC gave them some assistance.
“Maskin pila lang basta may inogbakal sud-an,” said Alibusa.
He also said a considerable number of their STL agents were senior citizens.
There was nothing ZFIC could do but wait for further directives from PCSO, said Alibusa.
“Order na ‘ya ni President Duterte, waay kita mahimu. Hulaton ta lang go signal halin kay Presidente,” said Alibusa.
Last night, the President lifted the suspension order on lotto.
Alibusa expressed confidence that the suspension order on STL would be eventually lifted, too.
Related to this, an official of the Department of Labor and Employment (DOLE) urged workers displaced by the suspension of all gaming activities of PCSO to avail themselves of unemployment assistance.
Labor Assistant Secretary Benjo Benavidez said affected workers who are members of the Social Security System (SSS) could apply for unemployment insurance under Republic Act 11199 or the Social Security Act of 2019.
On Monday, Police Brigadier General Rene Pamuspusan, Western Visayas police director, expressed concern over the possible resurgence of illegal gambling activities due to the suspension of PCSO games that displaced many STL bet collectors.
“We will be running after them, arrest them and file charges against them,” said Pamuspusan.
One popular illegal numbers game in the region is bookies. Its results are based on STL.
“I’m sure they know the Social Security Reform Act which was enacted into law this year. One of its provisions is unemployment insurance. Workers involuntarily displaced by reason of economic causes can avail themselves of this benefit,” DOLE’s Benavidez said in a press conference in Metro Manila.
Affected workers have to secure a certification that they have indeed lost their jobs involuntarily.
“They need a certification that they lost their jobs due to involuntary termination such as redundancy, retrenchment or closure or cessation of business operation,” said Benavidez.
In February, Duterte signed into law Republic Act (RA) 11199 which provides involuntary separation benefits for SSS members that could help them while looking for another source of income.
Under Section 14-B of RA 11199, a member who finds himself/herself involuntarily unemployed can claim an unemployment benefit equivalent to 50 percent of his average monthly salary credit for a maximum of two months.
But the member should not be more than 60 years of age and has paid at least 36 months contributions, 12 months of which should be within the 18-month period prior to the involuntary unemployment or separation. (With a report from the Philippine News Agency/PN)
