HOUSE COMMITTEES on Tuesday proposed that the Philippine Charity Sweepstakes Office (PCSO) employ local service providers to help operate the Nationwide Online Lottery System (NOLS).
“The thrust of these two committees is this — we want you to localize and not allow the precious peso to fly out of the country every year,” Minority Leader Danilo E. Suarez of the 3rd district of Quezon, chair of the Committee on Public Accounts said.
The committee, in a joint meeting with the House Committee on Games and Amusement, discussed the P10.9-billion NOLS project and the P46-billion allocation for consulting.
PCSO Assistant General Manager Lauro A. Patiag, a lawyer, said the consultant will be hired to assist the agency in the procurement of NOLS.
“The consultant will assist the PCSO in conducting the procurement for NOLS,” Mr. Patiag told the committees.
PCSO Chairman Anselmo Simeon P. Pinili said the decision to hire a consultant is in compliance with a circular issued by the Commission on Audit (CoA).
He also said that to address this, the PCSO is planning to establish an “academy” that will accredit consultants.
“The problem is, no one is accrediting an expert that will validate the NOLS,” Mr. Pinili said.
“We are planning on having an academy, so that if CoA will ask,” he said, adding that at present, the PCSO cannot address CoA’s concerns because “no one can answer because they only have experience, but no credentials.” — Charmaine A. Tadalan
