Lone bettor wins P175 million days after 'glitch' mars lotto draw

MANILA, Philippines — A lucky bettor will enter the month of March as a multi-millionaire after winning the P175.16 million jackpot prize during last Friday's Ultra Lotto 6/58 draw.

According to Philippine Charity Sweepstakes Office (PCSO), only one winner chose the following combination in yesterday's draw: 04-07-57-05-54-47.

The PCSO has not provided information yet about the location where the winning ticket was purchased.

While the jackpot prize was set at P175,160,965.20, the lottery winner will not be taking home the whole amount because of the Tax Reform for Acceleration and Inclusion (TRAIN) Law.

Under the law, lotto winnings above P10,000 are subject to a 20% final tax.

The prize needs to be claimed within a year of the lotto draw.

If the winnings are not claimed within one year of the lotto draw, they will be forfeited and contribute to the charity fund.

Lottery glitch?

The latest jackpot prize was won days after the PCSO confirmed the occurence of a "minor glitch" during its 3-Digit game last Tuesday, resulting in one of machines "failing to capture one of the winning balls."

PCSO General Manager Mel Robles on Thursday said that their technical team immediately responded and fixed the problem by using a standby machine approved based on the ISO 9001-2015 procedure.

"It’s not the first time that this happens and we want to assure the public that we are prepared for this kind of unexpected incident with our established ISO-approved protocols," said Robles in a statement.

"For this thing to happen is very remote. But we are prepared and we assure the public that our commitment to a transparent, fair and authentic lottery games will never waver, and  is as strong as ever."

The PCSO added that the last technical issue occurred during one of its draws in 2008. They assured bettors that similar incidents have occurred even in the United States when their machines malfunctioned.

The glitch was only the second time it was recorded in the past 25 years during an official draw.

The government-owned and controlled corporation drew flak from netizens, players and lawmakers alike due to the "glitches," with Sen. Imee Marcos proposing a temporary suspension of draws pending investigation.

Sen. Raffy Tulfo, chairperson of the Senate Committee on Games and Amusement, earlier said that he would order an investigation into the incident to figure out if it was really just a glitch or an outright irregularity.