BIZ BUZZ: PCSO unveils P1-B e-lotto blockbuster

A blockbuster project that has been over a decade in the making will be finally launched today, and all it took was the political will to power through the many roadblocks, courtesy of the implementing agency’s leadership.

Biz Buzz learned that the Philippine Charity Sweepstakes Office (PCSO)—led by its general manager, Mel Robles—will officially unveil this morning its e-lotto program that will allow bettors to participate in lotto games via online bets.

The implications for PCSO are massive. The agency expects the new digital platform to double its base of bettors from current levels. At present, about a million Filipinos place lotto bets on any single game on any given day, all of them physically lining up for the several minutes it takes to queue at lotto outlets and kiosks around the country.

With the new e-lotto platform, bettors will have the option to play lotto games through any internet-connected device, and pay for those bets with the cash in their digital wallets (like GCash, Maya or other platforms, and even from their digital bank accounts).

PCSO expects this new betting mode—which has been languishing on the drawing board since the Arroyo administration—to double the lotto betting base to 2 million Filipinos, with a large part of the growth likely to come from the estimated 10 million expatriate Filipinos around the world.

To get the ball rolling, Biz Buzz hears Robles personally pushed for a preliminary prize of not just one but two P500-million jackpots—a total of P1 billion from PCSO—to generate interest in the e-lotto platform.

The best part is that, unlike other gambling enterprises, 100 percent of PCSO’s revenues from its lotto and sweepstakes operations go to charitable activities. You may be indulging your vice, but your vice results in good works done for the less fortunate.

For now, we understand the online access will be limited to browser-based platforms but, the goal is to roll out a PCSO e-lotto app in the very near future to make it more convenient for bettors to participate in lotto draws.

The question now is no longer whether this will work, but how big a hit it will be. Abangan! —Daxim L. Lucas

No holiday for CEB brass

The holidays are a busy season for businesses as consumers are in high spirits and willing to spend money for gifts, food and travel, among others. The airline industry is not exempted from the festivities as passengers fly this season to be with their friends and family. And so Cebu Pacific president and chief commercial officer Xander Lao is staying put this holiday season to stay on top of things.

“I’ll be in the Philippines. Normally, we have to stay to make sure the operations are ongoing. Not just myself, but a lot of our other senior operations people are going to be around,” he told reporters last week.

“Our forward-bookings are healthy. It’s going to be a really busy time of the year. So we need to make sure [that] we’re able to maintain our promises,” he added.

For now, the Gokongwei family-led airline official has no plans yet for a vacation, a much-needed one as the aviation sector has been dealing with a lot of challenges brought about by the pandemic.

Asked when he will have some time to relax, he said: “Probably in January.”—Tyrone Jasper C. Piad

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