MANILA—President Rodrigo Duterte on Monday denounced alleged corruption in the operation of small-town lottery (STL) and Peryahan ng Bayan, saying operators under-remitted shares to the government.

"STL, Peryahan ng Bayan. P***** --- puro nakaw. Ang i-remit nila minus ‘yung kinukunan na nila," he said in a speech during the oath-taking of newly-appointed officials in Malacañang.

"So I had to stop it. Ang corruption talaga... has permitted government itself. Sinabi ko it’s corrupt to the core and it is right now," he added.

Duterte on July 26 suspended the operations of all gaming schemes granted by the Philippine Charity Sweepstakes Office (PCSO), citing "massive corruption" in the agency.

His order prompted authorities to shut down over 30,000 lotto outlets and other gaming kiosks.

Lotto operations resumed on July 31 after the Palace explained that the numbers game was only dragged into corruption allegations hounding the entire PCSO.

Gaming schemes such as the Peryahan ng Bayan, small town lottery (STL), and Keno remain suspended pending the results of an investigation.

State regulators had said that some STL operators were under-remitting to the state. The shortfall amounted to at least P4 billion from 2017 to 2018.

The PCSO reportedly ran after these parties but was met by court injunctions.

Meanwhile, the president said he fired 64 employees and officials of the Bureau of Customs (BOC) due to allegations of corruption.

"Mahirap tanggalin lahat. I just fired 64, but if I could get away with the 100 more, I think we’ll have a cleaner, a better Customs," he said.

"And they have been there for 36, 38 years without necessarily offending anybody," he added.