PCSO acknowledges that the photo of the lottery winner was edited and poorly executed

thephilippinesevent

January 28

By : Shaine Pe

After raising suspicion on social media, the Philippine Charity Sweepstakes Office (PCSO) confirmed on Thursday that the photo released to announce was authentic.

In the photo that was shared on the agency's Facebook page, a PCSO official gave a check to a woman who was wearing a hat and, a light blue blouse and dark blue skirt, her hair coppery and her face almost totally hidden behind a mask and sunglasses.

The woman's image was mocked by netizens, citing signs of it being amateurishly done, from the lines to the shadings. Last Wednesday, the PCSO released a statement describing the winner as a 47-year-old housewife from San Jose Del Monte, Bulacan. During a Senate hearing about PCSO's newly launched e-lotto, General Manager Melquiades Robles was asked about the photo by Sen. Raffy Tulfo.

Tulfo inquired about the controversial picture on social media, asking if it had been edited. 'Yes, your honor,' replied Robles. "We have to protect the identity of the winner."

Earlier complaint

Robles stated that the PCSO made adjustments to the woman's image after receiving a complaint from a previous winner whose photo appeared on the lottery agency's social media page. We once received a complaint and covered their face, but their clothes were visible. The winner requested that we refrain from displaying the clothes, so we edited them.

I concur the editing is poor, but the goal is to conceal the clothing that would identify her, he clarified. We apologize for the poor editing, but it serves the purpose of hiding your identity. We regret to inform you that we are not skilled in editing .

Cloud of doubt

Robles claimed that the lottery winner in the photo was real, but many netizens had already criticized the photo and expressed skepticism about the lottery draw itself.

"According to a post on X (formerly Twitter), how can we win the lottery when the PCSO appears to be doing something? A Facebook user stated that anyone can win now; just place yourself here, ( FB Page of PCSO)"

Called by the Senate committee on ways and means

Concerns were raised against the PCSO's newly launched online lottery during last Thursday's hearing. Tulfo questioned why the PCSO continued with the test run despite the Office of the Government Corporate Counsel stating that a Clearance from the Office of the President is still needed by the state lottery agency.

The PCSO officials stated that they had obtained clearance from the Office of the Executive Secretary.

To check past winners

Regarding the senator's inquiry on why the PCSO had to pay a commission to Pacific Online Systems Corporation and the officials said that the commission was intended to cover the actual costs of the test run.

Sen. Tulfo requested that the committee be informed of the names of the winners during a closed-door executive session to determine if they were genuine bettors, Not just the PCSO's 'katropa' ( slang word for friends). He said he would tap the investigators' services to check on the identity of the announced winners.