2 retirees win P73.4 million lotto

MANILA, Philippines — Two retirees – a former seaman and an ex-government worker – became instant millionaires after winning the jackpot draws last month, according to the Philippine Charity Sweepstakes Office (PCSO).

The retired seaman, a resident of Negros Occidental, shared the P73.4-million Mega Lotto jackpot with another at the PCSO in a draw held last Feb. 1. The other winner has not turned up at the PCSO.

Also claiming his P5.94-million Regular Lotto 6/42 jackpot prize last month was a 62-year-old retired government employee from Isabela.

The seaman told the PCSO that he got the winning combination 37-29-42-21-27-05 by mimicking a Bingo game where numbers are also drawn at random from a bottle.

He said he has played lotto since 2003, but only in the last two years has he been arriving at his favored combination.

“I thought of betting on numbers in Bingo. What I did was put the numbers 1 to 45 in a bottle then get six numbers, and that’s what I bet on. Thank God I got lucky,” the lotto jackpot winner told the PCSO in Filipino.

He said he plans to put up his own business in Negros Occidental and put part of his winnings in a bank for the future of his family.

“I want to expand my sari-sari-store and start my own business then save the rest for family. This happens only once so we should be careful not to squander it… Mahirap po maging mahirap,” he said with teary eyes that it is difficult to be poor.

Also turning up recently at the PCSO to claim his P5.94 million Regular Lotto 6/42 jackpot prize last month was a former government employee from Isabela.

He bought his ticket in a lotto outlet in Tumauini, Isabela and picked the winning number combination 2–27–16–29–4–19 from the birthdates of his parents and children.

Asked about his plans for his winnings, he said he would allot it for his children’s education and try farming.

The PCSO said all prizes above 10,000 are subject to a 20 percent final tax pursuant to the Tax Reform Acceleration and Inclusion law.

It reminds the public that all winning tickets should be claimed within one year from draw date, otherwise it will be forfeited to form part of the PCSO Charity Fund in accordance with the PCSO Charter or Republic Act 1169.