Tuesday, 3 December 2024

The Philippine Charity Sweepstakes Office (PCSO) is the principal government agency for raising and providing funds for health programs, medical assistance and services, and charities of national character.

The PCSO holds and conducts charity sweepstakes, races, and lotteries and engages in health and welfare-related investments, projects, and activities to provide for permanent and continuing sources of funds for its programs. It also undertakes other activities to enhance and expand such fund-generating operations as well as strengthen the agency’s fund-management capabilities.

The main products of the PCSO are the sweepstakes and the lottery games. The Sweepstakes game has steadily been evolving through the years to be able to conform with the changing times, to keep the game interesting to all Sweepstakes enthusiasts and to hopefully attract more clients, and to maintain a variety of Sweepstakes products readily available in the market. Various game types have been introduced and other game innovations are constantly being conceptualized, particularly of the traditional and scratch and match variety and the Small Town Lottery (STL).

The PCSO holds five 6-pick number games, the Lotto 6/42, MegaLotto 6/45, SuperLotto 6/49 GrandLotto 6/55 and UltraLotto 6/58 at ₱20.00 per combination (inclusive of 20% Documentary Stamp Tax or DST). All of these number games can be played using the system play (systems 7 to 12), 5 Roll, and Lucky Pick. The Lotto 6/42 is drawn on Tuesdays, Thursdays and Saturdays and has an initial jackpot prize of ₱6,000,000.00. The MegaLotto 6/45 is drawn on Mondays, Wednesdays, and Fridays with the initial jackpot prize of ₱9,000,000.00. The SuperLotto 6/49, which has an initial jackpot prize of ₱16,000,000.00, is drawn on Tuesdays, Thursdays and Sundays. The GrandLotto 6/55 is drawn every Monday, Wednesday and Saturday with the initial jackpot prize of ₱30,000,000.00. The UltraLotto 6/58 is drawn on Tuesdays, Fridays and Sundays with ₱50,000,000.00 as the initial jackpot prize.

The agency also conducts the 6D, 4D, 3D and 2D Lotto games ₱10.00 per play (inclusive of 20% DST). The 6D Lotto game is played only in Luzon. Draw days for this game are Tuesdays, Thursdays, and Saturdays with a minimum guaranteed amount (MGA) of ₱150,000.00 per twelve-peso play. The 4D Lotto game is played in Luzon, Visayas and Mindanao on the same days as that of the MegaLotto 6/45, which are on Mondays, Wednesdays, and Fridays. The minimum guaranteed amount for this game is set at ₱10,000.00 per twelve-peso play. The 3D Lotto game is played in Luzon, Visayas and Mindanao. The 3D Lotto games are drawn everyday, at 11:00 a.m., 4:00 p.m. and 9:00 p.m., with a first prize of ₱4,500.00 per twelve peso play. While, the 2D Lotto game is also drawn everyday, same time as the 3D Lotto draws, in Luzon, Visayas and Mindanao with ₱4,000.00 as first prize per twelve peso play.

Since its inception in 1934, the Philippine Charity Sweepstakes Office (PCSO) has lived up to the challenge of its mandated mission and purpose and has remained unwavering in carrying out its vision of uplifting the quality of life of the Filipino people. The agency has well established itself as a model government institution with its unquestioned dedication to serve the disadvantaged sectors of society. With these, the PCSO has developed a strong credence and incontestable acceptance from Filipinos who have all come to believe and get comfort on the fact that the PCSO will always be there for them, as long as needs need to be satisfied and hopes and dreams need to be given life and fulfilment.

In adherence to its main thrust of providing funds for health programs and other charities, the PCSO is engaged in various social welfare and development programs. The main programs of the agency are as follows: endowment fund/quality health care program, individual medical assistance program, community outreach program, ambulance donation program, national calamity and disaster program, and hospital renovation and improvement of health care facilities. Also, the agency makes mandatory contributions to the Commission on Higher Education (CHED), Comprehensive and Integrated Shelter and Urban Development Financing Program (CISUDFP), Department of Foreign Affairs (DFA), National Commission on Indigenous People (NCIP), Overseas Workers Welfare Administration (OWWA), Philippine Centennial Commission (PCC), Philippine Sports Commission (PSC), and the Quirino Memorial Medical Center (QMMC) as well as regular quarterly and monthly contributions to charitable institutions engaged in giving welfare services to the children and youth who are either abandoned or exploited, the elderly, and the physically and mentally handicapped, among others.