PHILIPPINE CHURCH LEADER DENOUNCES LOTTERY

March 22, 1994

MANILA, March 22 (Reuter) - The Philippines' top churchman on Tuesday denounced the introduction of a twice-weekly lottery, saying it will addict poor Filipinos to gambling.

"The lotto (lottery) will be a source of graft and corruption and of excessive spending," Roman Catholic Archbishop of Manila Cardinal Jaime Sin said.

"This lottery will drive some of our people to playing too much and thus lead them to addiction, to poverty and to conflicts in the family," he added.

A Filipino group headed by Raul Manglapus, a top ally of President Fidel Ramos, and Malaysia's Berjaya Group won the bid to operate the lottery, which starts next month.

Manila hopes the lottery will draw Filipinos away from a popular illegal numbers game believed to be backed by powerful politicians and military officers.

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