Philippine Charity Sweepstakes Office
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Seal
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| Abbreviation | PCSO |
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| Formation | 1935 |
| Type | State Lottery Company |
| Location | |
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Chairman
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Gen. Jose Jorge E. Corpuz (Ret.) |
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General Manager
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Gen. Alexander F. Balutan (Ret.) |
| Website | www.pcso.gov.ph |
The Philippine Charity Sweepstakes Office (PCSO) is a government-owned and controlled corporation of the Philippines under direct supervision of the Office of the President. It is mandated to do fund raising and provide funds for health programs, medical assistance and services, and charities of national character. The raised collections goes to the President's Presidential Social Fund.
The disbursements of these allocations are subject to state auditing rules and regulations.
Lotteries have been in existence in the Philippines as early as 1833. Under the auspices of private enterprises called Empresa de Reales Loteria Espanolas de Filipinas, the Spanish Government conducted loterias to generate revenues. Dr. Jose Rizal won ₱6,200.00 in the draw of 1892, while on exile in Dapitan. He donated his winnings to an educational project.
The loteria was forced to stop operations during the Philippine Revolution and through the Spanish-American War.
In 1932, the first Sweepstakes draw after the last loteria was conducted by the American Insular government to raise funds to support sports projects for the Filipino youth through the Philippine Amateur Athletic Federation (PAAF) – the beneficiary of the first draw. After the success of the PAAF Sweepstakes, the government decided to conduct more draws for the benefit of the Philippine Anti-Tuberculosis Society, now the Philippine Tuberculosis Society (PTS). The draws were held under the auspices of an organization called the National Charity Sweepstakes.
On March 1935, then President Manuel L. Quezon approved Act No. 301 – the law passed by the Philippine Legislature in October 30, 1934 creating the Philippine Charity Sweepstakes, replacing the then National Charity Sweepstakes. Under this law, the new organization was authorized to secure from the National Treasury a loan amounting to ₱250,000.00, the minimum amount required for organizing the office and printing the tickets for the draw. On September 8, 1935, the new agency held its first Sweepstakes draw. The loan was paid back in less than two months and shortly after the note was signed, proceeds from the sales started coming in.
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