The government sees an impending war on illegal gambling less bloody compared to the crackdown on prohibited drugs.

This was the assessment of top officials of the Philippine Charity Sweepstakes Office and the Philippine National Police met on Thursday where they discussed measures to strengthen the government's impending war on illegal gambling.

PCSO Chairman Jose Jorge Corpuz said with the expansion of the small town lottery game to other provinces next year, several operators of the illegal numbers game jueteng want to apply as authorized agent corporations of the legal small town lottery.

Small town lottery is being played in the provinces of Bataan, Bulacan, Ilocos Norte, Isabela, Nueva Ecija, Pampanga, Zambales, Tarlac, Batangas, Laguna, Occidental Mindoro, Quezon, Sorsogon, Negros Occidental, Iloilo, and Bohol, Olongapo City and four districts in Metro Manila.

Despite illegal gambling, STL games earned P4.7 billion in 2015. The projected revenue for 2016, according to Corpuz, is P6.8 billion.

With its expansion to other provinces, Corpuz sees it as the end of jueteng and other forms of illegal numbers game. Emmanuel Tupas/DMS