MANILA, July 2 — Philippine Charity Sweepstakes Office (PCSO) General Manager Alexander Balutan warned an authorized agent corporation (AAC) of small town lottery (STL) in Pangasinan to settle their intra-corporate dispute, lest being stripped of their license to operate the popular game.
“Shape up or ship out,” Balutan told Golden Go Rapid Gaming Corporation (GGRGC), a Dagupan-based company that has been the sole operator of STL in the said province.
Failure to settle the dispute may prompt PCSO to conduct another bidding to find another AAC for Pangasinan.
“The company should immediately settle their dispute or PCSO may be forced to take appropriate action against the corporation,” Balutan added.
“If this fight continues, their chance to operate STL in the province will be lost and they may even lose their cash bond,” Balutan said, explaining the operation of GGRGC was temporarily suspended after a dispute among the company’s incorporators.
“AACs of the PCSO should not get into intra-corporate fights because this will not only destroy the corporation but also cripple the STL operation in a particular area. The PCSO will not tolerate any animosity among its AACs,” Balutan warned.
Earlier, the president of GGRGC asked the PCSO for the authority to re-organize the corporation’s set of officers and appoint new stockholders as some of his incorporators failed to pay their share to the corporation.
The request was approved by Balutan based on documents submitted by one of the factions as required by the PCSO and for the failure of the former incorporators of GGRGC to pay their stock subscriptions.
Balutan reminded that before any disposition or changes be made in the set of officers or stockholders of the corporations, it should be approved and authorized by the PCSO and the company failed to comply with the requirements.
Based on the revised STL’s Implementing Rules and Regulations, AACs are prohibited from sub-contracting or transferring any of its rights or obligations under the agreement.
One of the factions also submitted a sworn undertaking from its new set of incorporators not to allow STL to be a front for an illegal numbers game in the province and will do everything possible to make STL more attractive to players.
Meanwhile, Balutan said the PCSO approved the resumption of operation of GGRGC but in the name of the original stockholders of the agency submitted to PCSO.
“The two parties even attended a dialogue facilitated by the PCSO last week and agreed on a sharing scheme as a compromise agreement,” Balutan said.
“As to the mode of sharing, it is purely internal to them as long as the corporation will remit the correct Presumptive Monthly Retail Receipts (PMMR) to the PCSO,” Balutan said.
“It was also agreed during the meeting that PCSO will only recognize the original GIS set of officers. I hope this helps clear the issue,” Balutan stressed. (Christopher Lloyd T. Caliwan/Stephon Villanueva (OJT)/PNA)
