The National Charity Lottery authorities delivered the third quarter contributions to the General Directorate of Revenues.
Panama.- The general director of Revenues of Panama, Camilo Valdés, on behalf of the Panamanian State, received from the general director of the National Charity Lottery (LNB), Saquina Jaramillo, the contributions from the profits of the draws of the third quarter of the year, amounting to B/.8,050,000.00 (USD8m).
"The contributions delivered correspond to the profits from the sale of chances and tickets from various draws," explained the director of the DGI.
For her part, Director Jaramillo stated that the National Charity Lottery is a self-managed entity, which by law makes contributions to the Panamanian State. Also, from the LNB it was explained that adjustments in the operational area and greater controls have allowed for the full compliance with the contributions in the months of July, August, and September.
"Apart from delivering the full contributions these three months, this new administration continues with the charity work throughout the country," they assured from the LNB.
See also: The gaming industry in Panama grew by 13.5% in the first half
It is worth remembering that in mid-July, the Government of Panama announced the appointment of Jaramillo as the new general director of the LNB, in replacement of Marcos Cedeño, who had been nominated in June, but declined the position citing personal reasons.
Jaramillo assured that one of her main objectives is to promote the transparency of the institution. Another mission assigned by the president of Panama, José Raúl Mulino, is to end the electronic lottery that has been operating in the country since last October.
As part of the initiative to make the situation transparent, after receiving the endorsement of the National Assembly, Jaramillo said that the list of holders or owners of ticket books will be disclosed, once an audit that is being carried out is completed. Jaramillo advanced that nationally there are 13,000 ticket sellers and that they have already managed to review about 7,500 of the list.
Senator Gatchalian called on the various law enforcement agencies to adopt a consolidated approach.
The Philippines.- Senator Sherwin Gatchalian has today (November 6) called on the government agencies involved in the eradication of offshore gaming operators to work together.
Gatchalian said in a statement: “I call on the Philippine National Police, the Presidential Anti-Organized Crime Commission (PAOCC), the National Bureau of Investigation (NBI), Bureau of Immigration (BI), and other law-enforcement agencies, in coordination with the Philippine Amusement and Gaming Corporation (PAGCOR), to sit down and craft a consolidated approach in our advocacy to end all offshore gaming operator-linked criminalities in the country.
“The absence of unity and coordination among all concerned agencies could potentially weaken our campaign and enable offshore gaming operators to exploit gaps and continue their operations.”
Gatchalian's statement comes after the Presidential Anti-Organized Crime Commission (PAOCC) criticised the way a raid was conducted on an illegal offshore gambling and scam operator in Ermita, Manila. It said the operation was flawed because foreign suspects arrested during the raid were later reportedly released.
In a statement released on Saturday (November 2), the PAOCC said: “The Presidential Anti-Organized Crime Commission was not part of the raid that was spearheaded by the PNP NCRPO (National Capital Region Police Office) and the PNP ACG. We were never consulted nor informed regarding this operation. We never release any foreign nationals caught in offshore gaming operations.” Additionally, the PAOCC urged, “Please do not associate PAOCC with flawed operations.”
