The Philippine lottery administrator is cutting funding for local police due to the force’s “anemic” efforts to stamp out illegal gambling operators.

Last October, the Philippine Charity Sweepstakes Office (PCSO) announced that it was teaming up with the Philippine National Police (PNP) to eradicate the illegal jueteng operations that compete with the PCSO’s official Small Town Lottery (STL) operations.

In exchange for this crackdown, the PCSO agreed to divert 2.5% of its STL revenue to the PNP. From January to June of this year, the PCSO’s contribution to PNP budgets amounted to over P154m (US $3m) but the flow of STL funds could be dramatically slowed by October.

On Wednesday, the Manila Bulletin reported that the PCSO planned to cut its PNP funding by at least 50% due to what PCSO general manager Alexander Butan described as the PNP’s focus on the minnows of illegal numbers game operations – money collectors and players – rather than the organizers.