MANILA, Philippines — The House committee on Games and Amusement said on Monday (25 November 2019) it will summon Philippine Charity Sweepstakes Office (PCSO) General Manager Royina Garma for the latter to shed light on why she allowed the controversial “Town Council” game to re-operate.

According to ACT-CIS Cong. Eric Yap, chairman of the committee, the House wants them to know from Garma where she got “the authority to reopen the said game when it still owes huge amount of money with the PCSO.

“Magugulo lang ang mga palaro ng PCSO dahil may STL na, tapos may peryahan pa. Pareho lang ang konsepto ng kanilang laro,” said the law maker.

Cong. Yap said the inquiry is slated December 17, 2019, with all members of the committee on games expected to attend.

Based on the record obtained by ACT-CIS directly from the PCSO, STL’s revenue is significantly higher than the purported Peryahan.

“Halimbawa na lang sa Pangasinan, P38 milyon ang nireremit ng STL sa PCSO habang ang Peryahan ay P1.5 milyon lang sa isang buwan. Malinaw na ang may-ari lang ng Peryahan ang kumikita,” Yap said.

Congress wants to hear the reason behind the reopening of Peryahan from the PCSO even if it is not profitable but has hundreds of millions in arrears with the government. (Marian Sinamban/IAMIGO/CNS)