Lotto winner runs out of cash for ‘balato’

The 77-year-old spinster who won the P39-million lotto jackpot last Oct. 11 ran out of cash after giving out "balato" to her neighbors in Pandacan, Manila yesterday.

At noon, "Aling Dedeng" stopped giving out money. Her siblings told the people to wait until 1 p.m. when the distribution would resume.

"I think they have run out of cash," said Andres, who was one of those waiting in front of Aling Dedeng’s house.

After Aling Dedeng won, word quickly spread in the neighborhood yesterday about her good luck, and people started to line up in front of her house to ask for a share or balato of her winnings.

Rumors went around the neighborhood yesterday that Aling Dedeng would leave for the United States to have her hypertension treated. Her two siblings are repotedly American citizens.

Aling Dedeng, who is a spinster, lives with two other unmarried siblings, and their sole sources of livelihood is selling plants which they grow in their garden.

Yesterday, Aling Dedeng started distributing P100 and P200 to her neighbors and other people she did not know, who had had formed a queue in front of her house in Pandacan, Manila.

"I was here before dawn," said Susan Medina, 41. "I really wanted to be the first on the line."

Aling Dedeng had adopted the Commission on Elections’ precautionary measures during elections to prevent people from returning and getting money all over again.

After she had handed money to a person, Aling Dedeng would put ink on his finger so she would know that he had already benefited from her generosity.

However, a resident said some people were able to return and receive money from Aling Dedeng three to four times after they had removed the inks stain from their fingers.

Aling Dedeng and her siblings refused to be interviewed.