Republic of the Philippines
HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES
Constitution Hills, Quezon City ,

SIXTEENTH (16‘") CONGRESS
Second Regular Session

House Bill No. 5317

Introduced by REPRESNTATIVE ERIC L. OLIVAREZ

EXPLANATORY NOTE

Last October of 2014, an incident with the PCSO and a man
claiming he won the 12 million jackpot prize on LOTTO sparked
and made headlines. The incident was considered novel or first of
its kind.

Antonio Failon Mendoza of Calaca, Batangas claimed that
he won P12 million in the October 2 draw. However, his daughter
allegedly used a flat iron on the crumpled ticket with the honest
intention of storing the paper to its previous smoothed-out
condition. She did so because of the fear that the crumpled ticket
might not be readible in the PCSO machine. However, upon
ironing the said paper, a big part of the ticket print got erased
because of the incident, making it useless and impossible to read
by the PCSO's machine after all.

The paper where the winning numbers of Mr. Mendoza was
printed on was a thermal paper, just like all the other LOTTO
tickets produced by the PCSO. Hence when the paper was
exposed to heat, the same easily changed its color and made
most of the alleged winning numbers unreadable.

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Nonetheless, the authorized personnel from the lotto outlet
where MR. Mendoza purchased his lotto ticket testified that the
latter’s claim was legitimate and the winning numbers drawn by
PCSO on October 02, 2014 indeed corresponded to the numbers
of Mr. Mendoza. The case is still under investigation and whether
or not Mr. Mendoza will be able to claim his 12-million peso prize
is yet to be determined.

Using thermal paper to print lotto tickets may not be a very
wise idea after all. It is well known to the commercial industry
that one of the significant disadvantages of thermal paper is the
fact that the same is not durable. It is not therefore advisable to
use thermal paper for documents that are supposed to last for a
while and this makes for a bad record-keeping. Another
disadvantage of using thermal paper is when the documents
printed thereon accidentally get exposed to some heat. The whole
document changes color and like in most cases it darkens to a
point where nothing can be seen. This is exactly what happened
in the case of Mr. Mendoza.

Now, the instant bill is drafted to avoid the happening of
such unfortunate incidents in the future and to remedy the exact
situation which Mr. Mendoza had to go through. In other words,
to significantly reduce the risk of ticket spoilage (having
unreadable numbers on a lotto ticket), this bill seeks to require
PCSO to change the kind of paper it uses to print out lotto
tickets. Instead of using a thermal paper which is easily obscured
by mere scratches or exposure even to a low level of heat, the
PCSO will now have to print the tickets on a non-thermal paper,
any recyclable paper or any kind of a more durable paper which
ensures that the printings thereon cannot be easily erased or
obscured by simple scratches and crumples, and can withstand
reasonable amount of heat as well. In this way, the winning
person like Mr. Mendoza will have a better protection from ticket
spoilage and will have a better chance of claiming his prize.

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It must be noted that most of the people joining the lottery
and purchasing lotto tickets are from the lower class to lower
middle class of our society. Most of these people did not have
education and therefore they cannot be reasonably expected to
know or be aware that a lotto ticket is printed on a thermal
paper, much less can we expect them to know what they must
not do to the said ticket considering its nature. These people
joining the lottery use their hard-earned money hoping for even
the slightest chance to change their lives and escape poverty.
They must be given the fairest opportunity to win and claim their
prize upon winning and this bill definitely contributes to the
attainment of such purpose.

It is only for this reason that the approval of this bill is
being sought.

Owen
ERIC L, OLIVAREZ

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Republic of the Philippines
HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES
Constitution Hills, Quezon City

SIXTEENTH CONGRESS
Second Regular Session

House Bill No, 5317

Introduced by REPRESENTATIVE ERIC L, OLIVAREZ

AN ACT REQUIRING THE PHILIPPINE CHARITY
SWEEPSTAKES OFFICE (PCSO) TO PRINT THE LOTTO
TICKETS ON A NON-THERMAL PAPER OR ANY KIND OF
RECYCLABE PAPER WHICH ENSURES THAT THE PRINTINGS
THEREON CANNOT BE EASILY ERASED OR OBSCURED BY
SIMPLE SCRATCHES AND CRUMPLES, AND CAN
WITHSTAND REASONABLE HEAT, THEREBY REDUCING THE
POSSIBILITY OF TICKET SPOILAGE.

Section 1. Short Title. This Act shall be known as the
PCSO Lottery Paper Act of 2015.

Section 2, Coverage. This Act shall cover all kinds of
lottery or similar games being operated/implemented now and in
the future by PCSO in the Philippines nationwide, provided that
the said lottery or game involves tickets which the public have to
purchase, and present upon winning,

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Section 3. Definition of Terms.

Lottery - a means of raising money by selling
numbered tickets and giving prizes to the holders of
numbers drawn at random.

Thermal paper - a special fine paper that is
coated with a chemical that changes color when
exposed to heat. It is used in thermal printers and
particularly in inexpensive or lightweight devices such
as adding machines, cash registers, credit card
terminals, and lottery tickets.

Recyclable Paper — for purposes of this Act, the
term recyclable paper is a paper that is reconstituted
into paper again. The best paper to be using is 100%
post-consumer recycled paper that is made from paper
scrap that can, no longer be used for its intended
purpose by the consumer, which is reprocessed into
paper again. This paper is collected from offices,
households and industry by local councils and scrap
paper merchants.

Durable and heat-resistant paper - for
purposes of this Act, the term heat-resistant paper
pertains only to kinds of paper which do not get the
printing thereon easily erasable despite being
scratched, crumpled, dampened, or exposed to a
reasonable amount of heat. This however does not
mean that the paper itself must be totally
indestructible or fire-durable,

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Section 4, Lottery Tickets must be printed on a non-
thermal paper, any recyclable paper or any durable and
heat-resistant paper. ‘The PCSO shall print the tickets used in
any lottery or similar games operated by the said office /agency in
the country, on a non-thermal paper, any recyclable paper or any
kind of durable and heat-resistant paper which ensures that the
printings thereon cannot be easily erased or obscured by simple
scratches and crumples, and can withstand reasonable heat.

Section 5. Period of Compliance. ‘The PCSO shall comply
with the requirements and provisions of this Act within three (3)
months from the effectivity of this Act.

Section 6. The procurement process of raw materials (i.e.
new non thermal papers, any recycle paper and/or durable, heat
resistant papers) needed for compliance with this Act shall be in
accordance with the existing rules and procedures for the old
papers being used by PCSO before the effectivity of this Act.

Section 7. Implementing Rules and Regulations. The
Philippine Charity Sweepstakes Office (PCSO) with the approval
of the Office of the President shall promulgate the Implementing
Rules and Regulations to carry out the provisions of this Act.
Such rules and regulations shall take effect upon their
publication in three (3) newspapers of general circulation.

Section 8. Repealing Clause.- All laws, presidential
decrees, letters of instructions, executive orders, rules and
regulations insofar as they are inconsistent with this Act, are
hereby repealed or amended as the case may be.

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Section 9. Separability Clause. - In the event that any
provision of this Act or any portion thereof is declared
unconstitutional by a competent court, the other provisions shall
not be affected thereby and shall remain valid and enforceable.

Section 10. Effectivity Clause. - This Act shall take effect
after its complete publication in at least three (3) newspapers of
general circulation.

APPROVED.

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