PHILIPPINE Charity Sweepstakes Office General Manager Mel Robles has been elected as one of the members of the Executive Committee of the Asia Pacific Lottery Association.
He’s named to the body during the 2024 regional conference of APLA, a membership body for lottery operators and suppliers in the region and formally established at the World Lottery Association Conference in Glasglow, Scotland in 2000, held in Hanoi, Vietnam recently.
Robles expressed gratitude to his fellow delegates who have placed their trust on him by voting him to the executive committee.
“I am thankful because being named to this position meant that my fellow gaming leaders recognize and appreciate the initiatives that we have been implementing at PCSO.”
“These reforms have resulted in more revenues for the agency, which we translated into more charity programs for the people, especially the poor,” he added.
The new set of officers who will serve for two years until the next Annual General Assembly in September 2026 includes Chairman Michael Fitzsimons from Hong Kong Jockey Club while Lam Chee Weng of Singapore Pools was named vice chairman.
Aside from Robles, the first Filipino to earn a seat in the body, the other members of APLA Executive Board include Kazuhisa Yamaguchi, president, Japan Lottery Association; and Kapil Khanna of Future Gaming & Hotel Services.
Also with them were Thierry Gabarret, chief executive officer of La Pacifique Des Jeax and Jason Delamore, chief executive of Lotto New Zealand.
Under his leadership, the PCSO has been steadily enhancing access to quality healthcare services and providing other necessary assistance for tens of thousands of poor Filipinos.
The agency has already released P6.7-B from July 2022 to July 2024 as mandatory contributions to various agencies of the government.
Also, the PCSO remitted P5.4-B for the Universal Health Care of PhilHealth, and another P627.8-M for the Commission on Higher Education.
During the same two-year period, the PCSO has released P576.2-M to various local government units as their share for the operation of lotto in their respective areas.
The PCSO has also intensified its corporate social responsibility program to better serve the people, particularly those that were affected by natural calamities and disasters like typhoons and earthquakes.
