MANILA, Philippines —The Supreme Court on Thursday ordered the Philippine Amusement and Gaming Corporation (Pagcor) and the Philippine Charity Sweepstakes Office (PCSO) to remit a portion of their income to fund the Philippine Sports Commission (PSC).
The order stemmed from a petition for mandamus filed by Josseller Guiao to compel Pagcor, PCSO, and the Office of the President to remit funds to the PSC under Republic Act (RA) 6847, otherwise known as the law creating the PSC.
According to Guiao, a former member of the House of Representatives and vice chairman of the House Committee on Youth and Sports Development, the non-remittance caused lack of funding for sports development projects.
She claimed in her petition that Pagcor failed to comply with the funding requirements under Section 26 of RA 6847, specifically the automatic remittance of 5 percent of its gross income to the PSC for the National Sports Development Fund.
Guiao further claimed that PCSO failed to remit 30 percent representing the proceeds of six sweepstakes or lottery draws per year since 2006.
Pagcor argued that the PSC was not entitled to the full five percent of its gross income as PSC’s share was still subject to deductions for the payment of 5 percent franchise tax, 50 percent share of the national government, and 10 percent subsidy to the National Power Corporation.
For its part, the PCSO said that PSC’s allocations were sourced from sweepstakes draws, not from lotto games.
The High Court, in a unanimous decision penned by Senior Associate Justice Marvic Leonen, granted Guiao’s petition.
In Pagcor’s case, the high tribunal held that the remittance required under RA 6847 was unqualified, as the law did not state that the allocation to PSC was subject to deductions.
As to the PCSO, the Court ruled that “lottery” has three elements: consideration, prize, and chance.
Based on this definition, lottery, as stated in the law, covered the lotto draws conducted by the PCSO.
The Court thus ordered Pagcor to account and remit the full amount of 5 percent of its gross annual income from 1993 to the present in favor of the PSC.
It also ordered PCSO to account and remit to the PSC 30 percent representing the charity fund of the proceeds of six sweepstakes or lottery draws per year, including its lotto draws from 2006 to the present.
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