MANILA — The sales of the expanded Small Town Lottery (STL) rose to PHP19.9 billion in the first nine months of the year, as it has already surpassed the 2017 collections, Philippine Charity Sweepstakes Office (PCSO) general manager Alexander Balutan reported Friday.
“From the period of January to September, STL sales have already earned PHP19,799,218,822, which is PHP4,051,797,151 above the total STL sales in 2017,” Balutan said in a statement.
He said the increase in revenue could be credited to the increase in the number of operating STL Authorized Agent Corporations (AACs) and in the Presumptive Monthly Retail Receipt.
To date, PCSO has 85 operational Authorized STL Agents (ASAs) nationwide, with 18 more approved ASAs for the first half of 2018.
ASAs are corporations or cooperatives duly registered with the Securities and Exchange Commission or with the Cooperative Development Authority, respectively, that applied, been duly qualified and expressly authorized by the PCSO to conduct STL in a particular area.
“Unknown to many, STL is our second highest-earning product next to Lotto products. As of September, Lotto earned PHP3,621,614,420; while STL earned PHP2,688,734,971,” Balutan added.
Apart from contributing billions of pesos to the charity funds of PCSO, STL is providing “legal” jobs for people who used to play “cat and mouse” with authorities or those who cannot even pass the nitty-gritties of jobs because of old age, lack of education, and physical disability.
Meanwhile, despite the marked increase in Lotto sales for the months of July to October, brought about by the hype on Ultra Lotto 6/58, the overall Lotto sales from January to September 2018 was recorded at PHP23,672,993,400 or PHP8,185,993,760 lower compared to its total 2017 collection of PHP31,858,987,200.
“We are confident we could still equal or increase our sales this year compared to last year. As we all know, Lotto is jackpot-driven. The higher the jackpot, the higher the sales,” Balutan said. (Christopher Lloyd Caliwan/PNA)
