Newspaper employee wins lotto jackpot

MANILA, Philippines - A 58-year-old printing press stripper hit the winning combination of the 6/42 lotto game by picking random numbers from an old newspaper at his worksite.

The winner went home with the P35,346,167 jackpot during the Jan. 22 draw, a top official of the Philippine Charity Sweepstakes Office (PCSO) said yesterday.

PCSO publicity and advertising manager Manny Garcia said the lucky player bought two tickets worth P20 and hit the winning combination of 18-10-02-24-36-03.

The winner, who claimed his prize at the PCSO main office at the Philippine International Convention Center in Pasay City, is the fifth lotto multi-millionaire for this month.

On Monday, a jobless woman bagged the P12,800,683.20 jackpot for the 6/45 Mega Lotto draw last Jan. 21.

The winner bought four tickets picking number combinations from birthdays of her relatives and other important dates.

Earlier this month, the winner of the grand lotto, who bought a ticket at an outlet in Romblon, hit the winning combination 48-15-07-46-18-05 that carried the P47-million jackpot prize of the 6/55 Grand Lotto.

Another picked the winning combination of 35-28-03-23-14-18 with P11,158,895.60 jackpot at an outlet in Makati City.

“Despite the overwhelming odds players are winning the jackpot prizes, we are expecting more lotto millionaires for the coming months,” Garcia said.

The first millionaire for this year won the P61,313,914.80 jackpot of the 6/49 Super Lotto.

The winning combination 26-20-22-18-11-10 was bought at the Quick Stop Convenience Store at Gil Puyat Ave. in Pasay City.

“The lucky player was the first lotto millionaire for this year,” Garcia said.

The biggest lotto jackpot won last year by a balikbayan was P741 million in the 6/55 Grand Lotto, which generated total sales of P4.1 billion.