Olongapo lotto bettor wins P741 million with lucky pick

MANILA, Philippines – A lone bettor in Olongapo City won the P741,176,323.20 jackpot of the 6/55 Grand Lotto online lottery draw of the Philippine Charity Sweepstakes Office (PCSO) last Monday night, ending a nationwide lotto craze.

Manny Garcia, PCSO publicity and advertising manager, told The STAR that the winner bought the winning ticket with a lucky pick combination 11-16-42-47-31-37 at the Nicetas Garcia outlet inside the Subic Bay Metropolitan Authority (SBMA) freeport in Olongapo City.

Garcia said somebody finally won the much-coveted Grand Lotto jackpot after the 88th draw of the 6/55 game that had triggered a nationwide frenzy to hit the biggest lotto jackpot in the history of the online lottery in the country that was launched in 1995.

The second biggest lotto jackpot was P347 million for the Super Lotto 6/45 game that two bettors from Pasig and again from Olongapo City won, while a 61-year-old construction worker won P264 million in 2008.

The first sole winner from Batangas of the Grand Lotto draw won more than P134 million on May 12, 2010.

The winner of the over P700 million from Olongapo is now listed as the 1,553rd member of the so-called “lotto millionaires” since the online lottery was launched.

Arnel Casas, PCSO operations manager, said sales of the Grand Lotto soared when the jackpot prize breached P500 million. He said heavy sales were reported in Luzon where the sales reached P266,638,620 before the 9 p.m. closing time of lotto outlets nationwide.

Thirty percent of the lotto sales are used to fund the medical and health services of indigent patients nationwide, including hospitalization assistance, medical/dental missions and ambulance donations, among charity concerns.

If the lotto winners fail to claim their prizes within one year, the unclaimed prizes automatically go to the charity fund.  

Tricycle driver wins Mega Lotto draw

A tricycle driver and his wife claimed yesterday the P18-million jackpot of the first draw of the 6/45 Mega Lotto held at the new office of the Philippine Charity Sweepstakes Office (PCSO) at the Philippine International Convention Center (PICC) in Pasay City last Thursday. 

The winner bought the ticket at the Jolly Cardeno outlet in Biñan, Laguna.

The winning combination 21-12-42-01-11-07 had a total jackpot of P18,538,048.80. The driver’s 32-year-old housewife wept as they claimed their prize at the PCSO’s new office. “We will buy a house and lot,” the driver said. He said he would also save the money for the future of his three children.

Following policy, the PCSO withheld the identity of the winners for security reasons.

Meanwhile, retired Lingayen-Dagupan Archbishop Oscar Cruz said he could only pity the lone winner of P741,176,323.20 Grand Lotto jackpot.

Cruz, a staunch anti-gambling advocate, told Bombo Radyo Dagupan yesterday that the winner would surely have a chaotic life.

He said the winner will have a miserable life in the sense that there will be confusion – with whom will he share his prize, how much, how many houses and cars will he buy, how will he deal with his relatives who will not be given “balato” (share of prize), among others.

He added that the winner’s children would also live on something that did not come from the sweat of their parents.

Cruz added that even if he shares his prize, he cannot please everybody, thus making his life miserable.

He claimed that he would refuse to accept donation for charity coming from the lotto winner as it came from gambling.

Cruz, who chairs the Krusada ng Bayan Laban sa Jueteng (People’s Crusade Against Jueteng), said that it is not true that the lotto is easing out jueteng as the most popular numbers’ game in the country.

“That is not true. I received a report this morning that jueteng has become rampant in Region 1,” he said. He said winning in lotto is very hard compared to jueteng, which has only 1 to 37 combinations.

He added that there are also frequent draws in jueteng – three times a day – compared to lotto’s three draws per week. He said that it is also cheaper to bet on jueteng.

Cruz added that he is upset that the current administration, which prides itself in putting a stop to corrupt practices, does not bother to lick jueteng across the country.

“It only takes one word from the President and it would stop. I wonder why he doesn’t say and do so,” he said. – With Eva Visperas, Evelyn Macairan