By Perfecto T. Raymundo, Jr.
MANDALUYONG CITY — The Philippine Charity Sweepstakes Office (PCSO) held on Tuesday (May 13) its much-anticipated Agents’ Summit with the theme โ€œ๐˜ฝ๐™š๐™ฎ๐™ค๐™ฃ๐™™ ๐™ฉ๐™๐™š ๐™…๐™–๐™˜๐™ ๐™ฅ๐™ค๐™ฉ: ๐˜ผ ๐˜พ๐™ค๐™ข๐™ข๐™ž๐™ฉ๐™ข๐™š๐™ฃ๐™ฉ ๐™ฉ๐™ค ๐™๐™š๐™จ๐™ฅ๐™ค๐™ฃ๐™จ๐™ž๐™—๐™ก๐™š ๐™‚๐™–๐™ข๐™ž๐™ฃ๐™œโ€ at the newly-inaugurated Foro de Intramuros.
The event gathered around 460 Lotto and 79 Small Town Lottery (STL) agents nationwide.
In his opening remarks, PCSO General Manager Melquiades “Mel” A. Robles stressed the vital role of agents in promoting ethical gaming practices.
โ€œ๐˜ผ๐™จ ๐™ค๐™ช๐™ง ๐™ซ๐™–๐™ก๐™ช๐™š๐™™ ๐™–๐™œ๐™š๐™ฃ๐™ฉ๐™จ, ๐™ฎ๐™ค๐™ช ๐™–๐™ง๐™š ๐™ฃ๐™ค๐™ฉ ๐™ค๐™ฃ๐™ก๐™ฎ ๐™ค๐™ฅ๐™š๐™ง๐™–๐™ฉ๐™ค๐™ง๐™จโ€”๐™ฎ๐™ค๐™ช ๐™–๐™ง๐™š ๐™–๐™™๐™ซ๐™ค๐™˜๐™–๐™ฉ๐™š๐™จ,โ€ Robles said.
โ€œ๐™”๐™ค๐™ช๐™ง ๐™ง๐™ค๐™ก๐™š ๐™ž๐™ฃ ๐™ฅ๐™ง๐™ค๐™ข๐™ค๐™ฉ๐™ž๐™ฃ๐™œ ๐™ง๐™š๐™จ๐™ฅ๐™ค๐™ฃ๐™จ๐™ž๐™—๐™ก๐™š ๐™œ๐™–๐™ข๐™ž๐™ฃ๐™œ ๐™–๐™ฃ๐™™ ๐™ฅ๐™ง๐™ค๐™ฉ๐™š๐™˜๐™ฉ๐™ž๐™ฃ๐™œ ๐™ฅ๐™ก๐™–๐™ฎ๐™š๐™ง๐™จ ๐™›๐™ง๐™ค๐™ข ๐™š๐™ญ๐™ฅ๐™ก๐™ค๐™ž๐™ฉ๐™–๐™ฉ๐™ž๐™ซ๐™š ๐™ฅ๐™ง๐™–๐™˜๐™ฉ๐™ž๐™˜๐™š๐™จ ๐™ž๐™จ ๐™˜๐™ง๐™ช๐™˜๐™ž๐™–๐™ก. ๐™๐™ค๐™œ๐™š๐™ฉ๐™๐™š๐™ง, ๐™ฌ๐™š ๐™ข๐™ช๐™จ๐™ฉ ๐™ฅ๐™ง๐™š๐™จ๐™š๐™ง๐™ซ๐™š ๐™ฉ๐™๐™š ๐™ž๐™ฃ๐™ฉ๐™š๐™œ๐™ง๐™ž๐™ฉ๐™ฎ ๐™ค๐™› ๐™ค๐™ช๐™ง ๐™œ๐™–๐™ข๐™š๐™จ ๐™–๐™ฃ๐™™ ๐™จ๐™๐™ž๐™š๐™ก๐™™ ๐™ฉ๐™๐™š ๐™ฅ๐™ช๐™—๐™ก๐™ž๐™˜ ๐™›๐™ง๐™ค๐™ข ๐™ž๐™ก๐™ก๐™š๐™œ๐™–๐™ก ๐™ค๐™ฅ๐™š๐™ง๐™–๐™ฉ๐™ค๐™ง๐™จ ๐™ฌ๐™๐™ค ๐™ฅ๐™ง๐™š๐™ฎ ๐™ค๐™ฃ ๐™ซ๐™ช๐™ก๐™ฃ๐™š๐™ง๐™–๐™—๐™ž๐™ก๐™ž๐™ฉ๐™ฎ ๐™–๐™ฃ๐™™ ๐™ข๐™ž๐™จ๐™ž๐™ฃ๐™›๐™ค๐™ง๐™ข๐™–๐™ฉ๐™ž๐™ค๐™ฃ,โ€ he added.

Robles also outlined PCSOโ€™s efforts toward digital transformation, including modernized remittance systems, enhanced cybersecurity measures, and alignment with global standardsโ€”initiatives that are all aimed at strengthening operational efficiency and public trust.
โ€œ๐™๐™ก๐™ฉ๐™ž๐™ข๐™–๐™ฉ๐™š๐™ก๐™ฎ, ๐™š๐™ซ๐™š๐™ง๐™ฎ ๐™—๐™š๐™ฉ ๐™ฅ๐™ก๐™–๐™˜๐™š๐™™ ๐™ฉ๐™๐™ง๐™ค๐™ช๐™œ๐™ ๐™ค๐™ช๐™ง ๐™ก๐™š๐™œ๐™–๐™ก ๐™˜๐™๐™–๐™ฃ๐™ฃ๐™š๐™ก๐™จ ๐™˜๐™ค๐™ฃ๐™ฉ๐™ง๐™ž๐™—๐™ช๐™ฉ๐™š๐™จ ๐™ฉ๐™ค ๐™– ๐™๐™ž๐™œ๐™๐™š๐™ง ๐™ฅ๐™ช๐™ง๐™ฅ๐™ค๐™จ๐™š: ๐™›๐™ช๐™ฃ๐™™๐™ž๐™ฃ๐™œ ๐™ก๐™ž๐™ซ๐™š๐™จ, ๐™จ๐™–๐™ซ๐™ž๐™ฃ๐™œ ๐™ก๐™ž๐™ซ๐™š๐™จ,โ€ Robles pointed out.
The summit featured distinguished guests and experts who tackled critical topics on responsible gaming and the fight against illegal gambling:
Police Maj. Gen. Nicolas D. Torre III, Chief of the Criminal Investigation and Detection Group (CIDG), discussed โ€œBeyond Regulation: The Role of Responsible Gaming in Stopping Illegal Gambling.โ€
Undersecretary Gilbert Cruz, Executive Director of the Presidential Anti-Organized Crime Commission (PAOCC), addressed the โ€œChallenges on the Proliferation of Illegal Gambling Activities.โ€
Fe Celebrado, Division Chief of the Product Standard Development Division (PSDD), gave an in-depth look into โ€œResponsible Gaming Practices: Ensuring Fair Play and Social Responsibility.โ€
Department Manager May Cerelles, of the Information Technology and Services Department, presented PCSOโ€™s advancements in โ€œDigital Information of PCSO Lottery.โ€
Donald Limcaco, of DFNN, introduced โ€œLottomatik: A New Betting Platform, Revolutionizing Your Lottery Experience.โ€
A Question & Answer session followed, allowing agents to directly raise concerns and suggestions to key PCSO leaders.
The panel included PCSO Chairperson Felix Reyes, GM Robles, Maj. Gen. Torre III, and Usec. Cruz.
In the latter part of the program, a Panel Discussion and Networking Session was held, led by GM Robles, Atty. Lyssa Grace Pagano (AGM for Gaming Product Development and Management Sector), and Remeliza Jovita Gabuyo (AGM for Branch Operations Sector).
The session stressed the importance of continued partnership, operational innovation, and unified efforts toward responsible gaming.
The summit reaffirmed PCSOโ€™s vision of a transparent and socially responsible gaming environmentโ€”where agents are empowered not only as business partners but also as champions of public trust and nation-building.
JTR Reports 051525–MHE