3 women, OFW win over P500 M in lotto pot

MANILA, Philippines - Three female players and an overseas Filipino worker have won over P500 million in jackpots of various lotto draws since January, the Philippine Charity Sweepstakes Office reported yesterday.

PCSO general manager Jose Ferdinand Rojas II said a sari-sari store owner from Muntinlupa city claimed the P155-million jackpot of the 6/55 Grand Lotto draw last Jan. 20 while a female employee also from Muntinlupa claimed the P249,844,572 jackpot of the Grand Lotto draw last April 2.

Two Pampanga residents were also big winners: a 66-year-old housewife claimed the P80.7-million jackpot of the Mega Lotto draw last April 14 draw and a 47-year-old migrant worker won the P18-million jackpot of the 6/42 Regular Lotto draw.

Rojas said the sales of lotto tickets soared from the average P25 million per draw to P70 million once the jackpot breached the P100- million mark.

He said although not all players win, all bettors have contributed to the significant increase in the charity fund, allowing the PCSO to serve more poor people in need of medical assistance.

The other lotto millionaires since January were a 52-year-old clerk from Manila who won the P9,403,380 jackpot of the 6/45 Mega Lotto; a security guard from Lucena and a waiter from Legazpi who shared the P27-million jackpot of the 6/49 Super Lotto draw last Feb. 1, and a 65-year-old retiree from Valenzuela City who won the P50-million top prize of the 6/42 Regular Lotto draw last March 23.

The new millionaires also include a Lipa City engineer (P89 million), a Zamboanga engineer (P78.7 million), a street sweeper from Rizal (P26 million), a waitress from Quezon City (P8.9 million), a trader from Dumaguete (P43 million) and a jobless man from Bukidnon (P8.9 million).