Car plates spell jackpot for bettor

MANILA, Philippines - A 50-year-old woman who chose the plate number of a passing car near a lotto outlet to complete her ticket claimed her prize of P173 million at the Philippine Charity Sweepstakes Office (PCSO) at noon yesterday.

The woman is one of only two winners of the Super Lotto 6/49 game with the combination (in any order) 6-34-33-20-26-12, which carried a pot of P347,836,903.20, the biggest PCSO jackpot to date.

Don de Leon, chief of staff of the PCSO chairman’s office, said the woman from Caloocan, an employee in a private company, was accompanied by her husband and 25-year-old son when she claimed the prize yesterday.

He said she had bet on six sets of combination numbers that amounted to P120. She got the numbers from the birthday of a family member, her wedding anniversary, home address and the plate number of a passing car near a lotto outlet in Malibay, Pasay City.

The winner intends to buy a house and lot, share her winnings with the poor and deposit the remaining amount in the bank.

The other winner from Pasig has yet to claim his or her prize.

“The much anticipated 6/49 jackpot was finally taken Sunday night, the biggest PCSO purse to date,” De Leon said.

The lucky tickets were sold by outlets operated by Jocelyn Federico of Guillermo Avenue, Buting, Pasig city and Alicia Ildefonso of Jose Street, Malibay, Pasay city.

The PCSO thanked the thousands of players who supported the game, saying it generated millions of pesos for the agency’s charity fund.

“Although not everybody is fortunate enough to win, they should know that their patronage has contributed to the significant increase in the charity fund, allowing our office to serve more people in need of our medical and health related programs,” De Leon said.

The two winners are the 156th and 157th members of the Super Lotto millionaires club who have won jackpot prizes ranging from P8 million to P347 million.

For the security of winners, the PCSO will keep their identities a secret.

The biggest lotto jackpot of the PCSO online game has rekindled the dreams of thousands of Filipinos who tried their luck last Sunday night.