The Philippine Charity Sweepstakes Office on Thursday confirmed there was a minor glitch occurred during its 3-digit game 2:00 p.m. draw on 27 February, after one of its draw machines failed to capture one of the winning balls.

In a statement, PCSO General Manager Mel Robles explained the glitch was “unexpected” and that their technical team immediately responded to the incident.

He added that the problem was abruptly fixed by using the standby machine, which was approved based on the ISO 9001-2018 procedure.

“It’s not the first time that this happened and we want to assure the public that we are prepared for this kind of unexpected incident with our established ISO-approved protocols,” said Robles. 

The PCSO’s 3-Digit draw offers a top prize of P4,500 for each winning ticket.

Robles recalled the PCSO experienced a similar glitch in one of its draws in 2008. 

He noted similar incidents have happened even in the United States when their lottery machines also malfunctioned. 

In the past 25 years, Robles noted that this was only the second time that a minor glitch had occurred at PCSO while conducting an official draw. 

“For this thing to happen is very remote. But we are prepared and we assure the public that our commitment to a transparent, fair, and authentic lottery games will never waver, and is as strong as ever,” he further stressed. 

Despite the PCSO chief’s explanation, Senator Raffy Tulfo said he will be pushing for a Senate inquiry regarding the glitch during the live draw of the Philippine Charity Sweepstakes Office on 27 February. 

“We will conduct a hearing to investigate the glitch. The public needs to know whether or not glitch ba talaga ito (if it is not a real glitch) or is it another suspicious action by the PCSO,” he said.

Tulfo said the glitch was bad timing amid the ongoing probe on the PCSO’s electronic lotto system—where bettors can participate in the daily lotto draws through online means.

“It is bad timing for PCSO because hindi pa tapos ang resulta ng investigation of the E Lotto system, nangyari nanaman ito (It is a bad timing for PCSO because the result of the investigation of the E Lotto system is not yet finished, and this happened again),” the Senato said. 

In a Senate hearing last month, Tulfo lashed out at the PCSO for implementing E-lotto without getting approval from authorities first, particularly the Office of the President. 

Robles said they did not seek approval because e-lotto is still in the trial phase. 

Tulfo insisted that PCSO should have asked OP’s permission first regardless of the e-lotto’s stage of implementation.