Hotel clerk wins P1 M in ‘Premyo sa Resibo’

When 41-year-old hotel clerk Agapito Espinosa Jr. of Cagayan de Oro received a call saying he won P1 million from the "Premyo sa Resibo" raffle of the Bureau of Internal Revenue (BIR), he thought the man at the other line was playing a prank on him.

Although Espinosa joined the raffle, he never really thought of winning.

After texting to 9777 the three sets of numbers indicated on the receipt for the motorcycle accessories he recently bought, Espinosa forgot about the whole thing.

The Premyo sa Resibo raffle, a project of the BIR and the Philippine Amusement and Gaming Corp. (PAGCOR), aims to encourage Filipinos to ask for their official receipts when purchasing goods or services.

Espinosa was surprised when Philweb senior vice president Florentino Mauricio informed him over the phone that he won P1 million in cash.

PhilWeb is the BIR and Pagcor’s online partner for the conduct of the raffle.

"We had just come from the market to buy goods to sell in our small store around 6:17 p.m. when I heard my cell phone ringing. When I looked at my cell phone, it registered an unknown number, a landline, calling," Espinosa said.

The caller, who turned out to be Mauricio, asked Espinosa if he watched the televised raffle draw.

Espinosa said he missed the televised draw, so Mauricio advised him to watch the replay at 11 p.m. or purchase a newspaper the next day.

That night, Espinosa watched the show with his wife and their eight-year-old daughter and nearly fell from his seat when his number was announced as the winner.

Despite watching the draw on television, Espinosa was still skeptical because he had read news reports of contest and lottery scams wherein people have been duped of their hard-earned money.

He was finally convinced when Philweb sponsored his air fare from Cagayan de Oro to Manila on Nov. 15. He was welcomed by BIR personnel and ushered to a platform, where officials handed him his check during a simple ceremony.

"Like what Onyok Velasco said, Premyo sa Resibo is real. Back then, I didn’t believe in contests or promotions like this. Now that I’ve won, I have no more doubts that it’s real," Espinosa said during the awarding ceremony.

The wife of former Olympic boxer Onyok Velasco won P100,000 in a previous Premyo sa Resibo draw.

When asked what he would do with his winnings, Espinosa said he will renovate their small sari-sari store and stock it with more goods. He also plans to buy a van for his business.

"Whenever I buy five sacks of rice at the market, I use my motorcycle to transport them to the store. It takes me five trips just to bring all the sacks since I can only load one on the motorcycle. With the money that I have, I can now buy a van. I’ll use the remaining money for the store," he said.

When asked if he was worried that he might be robbed by people who find out about his good fortune, Espinosa said he was not bothered at all.

He said his friends were encouraged to join the raffle when they learned about his luck in the raffle.

"As a matter of fact, my co-workers already know that I won. Now, almost all of my friends are sending entries to Premyo sa Resibo," he said. – Patricia Esteves