Cancer patient's brod wins P1-M BIR 'premyo sa resibo' raffle

A 50-year-old hardware store manager from Dagupan City whose sister is undergoing cancer treatment won the first P1 million jackpot of Premyo sa Resibo Champion contest on October. Napoleon Co never joined raffles before but something made him join the Bureau of Internal Revenue’s Premyo sa Resibo contest last month.

It’s a good thing he did – the 50-year-old hardware store manager from Dagupan City won the first P1 million jackpot of Premyo sa Resibo Champions Edition.

This proved to be a blessing – they needed the money to help his youngest sister.

Co’s youngest sister is undergoing treatment for colon cancer but he said they stopped chemotherapy treatment, as they did not have enough money. “Hirap na kami sa pagkuha ng panggastos – yung chemo treatment niya dapat 12 sessions pero huminto na kami sa pang-pito lang,” Co admitted.

When he received the P1-million check in Oct. 27, he still couldn’t believe he won the P1-million. He gave the check to his mother – “tuwang tuwa siya dahil hirap na rin siya maglabas ng pera.”

“Malaking tulong ito sa aking kapatid,” pointing out that each chemotherapy session costs around P70,000. Co said his sister has been responding to chemotherapy, adding that he did not keep any of the winnings for himself.

The receipt that won him the jackpot prize was a P27,000 receipt for construction materials. Co recalled that he wasn’t doing anything that day but something urged him to join the Premyo Sa Resibo drive which is the BIR’s way of plugging tax leaks by encouraging consumers to demand a receipt and for stores as well as professionals to issue receipts.