Officials of the Philippine Charity Sweepstakes Office (PCSO) could be charged with graft  if it continues to refuse to pay a lotto player  who won but whose ticket was  rendered unreadable by the agency’s validating machine, Cavite Rep. Elpidio Barzaga Jr. said.

Barzaga, who chairs the House committee on games and amusement, said he would file a complaint against the PCSO for violating provisions of Republic Act 3019 or the Anti-Graft and Corrupt Practices Act for causing undue injury to ticket holder Antonio Mendoza, whose winnings of P12,991,600 were withheld by the sweepstakes office because his Oct. 2 lotto ticket could not be read by the PCSO validating machine.

The Barzaga committee held six hearings before the end of 2014 to hear the case of Mendoza, who claimed his winning ticket got crumpled by his granddaughter and its thermal paper damaged when his daughter ironed the ticket in an effort to bring it back to its original form.

PCSO General Manager Jose Ferdinand Rojas II told the House committee that the sweepstakes office and the Commission on Audit (COA) have strict rules that specify, among other requirements, that the winning ticket should be positively validated by its machine.

But Barzaga, who is also vice president for external affairs of the National Unity Party (NUP),  pointed out several factors proving Mendoza’s claim. These include the fact that no one else came forward to claim the Oct. 2 prize; Mendoza and his family passed  polygraph tests conducted by the National Bureau of Investigation; the PCSO certified that the winning combination was sold in an outlet where Mendoza bought his ticket; the first two numbers of the six-digit winning combination were still recognizable on Mendoza’s ticket.

“Based on these circumstances, it is but fair for the PCSO to pay Mendoza. Otherwise, the public will lose its trust in them,” Barzaga said.

He pointed out that the COA officials who appeared before the committee said they would not penalize the PCSO for recognizing Mendoza as a winner even without a valid ticket. All that was required was a  vote by the agency’s board endorsing Mendoza as the lotto winner, the COA said.

“I’m drafting the committee report personally. My recommendation is for the PCSO to pay (Mendoza),” Barzaga added.