Winning ticket of 'Freedom Draw' sold in Mt. Province

MANILA, Philippines - An official of the Philippine Charity Sweepstakes Office (PCSO) reported yesterday that the winning ticket of the “Freedom Draw” in commemoration of the Aug. 21, 1983 assassination of the late Sen. Benigno Aquino Jr. was sold in Bontoc, Mountain Province.

PCSO general manager Jose Ferdinand Rojas II said the winning traditional sweepstakes ticket with number 246369 which a P5-million jackpot was sold by the PCSO office in Bontoc.

The second prize ticket with number 138229 and a P2.5-million prize was sold in Bulacan while the third prize ticket with number 201316 and a P1-million prize was sold in Las Piñas City.

The Freedom Draw, which was held at noon Sunday at the PCSO office at the Philippine International Convention Center (PICC) in Pasay City, was a historic draw since all tickets for the special draw were sold out a week before the Aug 21 draw date.

Some 3,000,000 tickets were sold at P10 each for a total of P30,000,000.

Rojas congratulated the winners and urged them to pray and thank God for their instant fortune. “Use the money for the future of your children,” he said. He said the PCSO is revitalizing the traditional sweepstakes draw because “we want to give more to charity as well as provide decent jobs to handicapped vendors (that usually sell the traditional sweepstakes tickets) in the streets.”

The traditional sweepstakes draw is the original fund-raising activity of the government for charity programs and it provides handicapped people a chance to sell tickets and earn a decent livelihood.

From the ticket sales P11,603,592 was allocated for prizes, and P580,179.60 to pay taxes. The prizes for the sweepstakes draw, however, are tax-free.

Rojas said the agency is planning to have another traditional sweepstakes draw before the year ends.