Philippine President Rodrigo Duterte has admitted he asked the help of notorious gambling financier Atong Angto stamp out illegal gambling in the country and shore up the revenue of the flailing state-run Philippine Charity Sweepstakes Office (PCSO).

Duterte’s admission came after Ang appeared before the Senate inquiry into the supposed under-declaration of small town lottery (STL) revenues by authorized agency corporations (AACs) on Wednesday.

In an impromptu speech before leaving for India, the president confirmed that he had talked to Ang, who he described as a “number one gambler,” according to SunStar Manila.

Duterte didn’t mention when the phone call took place but he admitted admonishing Ang for his supposed illicit activities before appealing to his “friend” to help PCSO stop jueteng, a popular illegal numbers game, in the country.