MANILA, Philippines—(UPDATE) It pays to ask for an official receipt.
A 55-year-old homemaker from Mandaluyong City did just that and bagged a cool P1 million.
Magdalena Laroza bought a ballpoint pen and a roll of electrical tape for P41.75 and won in the “Premyo sa Resibo” (PSR) program of the Bureau of Internal Revenue (BIR).
She sent a text message to register the receipt of her purchase from a popular bookstore chain and after a few days, got a phone call informing her of her winnings.
“I thought it was a scam,” recalled her husband Reynaldo, an employee at a heavy machinery company. “We often get calls like that, telling us that we won something and then they would ask for our credit card information.”
“It didn’t sink in. I just stared at nothing for a long time in our living room,” Laroza said in an interview after she was awarded her check last Friday at the SM Megamall in Mandaluyong.
But when they realized it was the real thing, the Larozas decided to change their plans for the holidays.
“We’re thinking of going on vacation—maybe to Hong Kong,” said Laroza, who has a 22-year-old daughter, Reina. “We’re also thinking of buying a second-hand car,” she added.
In keeping with the spirit of the season, the family plans to save part of the money to support the schooling of nephews and nieces, she said.
Laroza joined the SMS-based raffle a day before the Dec. 5 draw. She remembered buying a ballpoint pen and a roll of electrical tape at a branch of National Book Store in Vigan City in Ilocos Sur.
Having previously entered entries to the raffle without winning, Laroza said she decided to try her luck once more by sending the O.R. (official receipt) number along with other pertinent information to the designated number.
Cool and casual
“When I got the call and was told the news, I was very casual about the whole thing. I was just cool,” she said. “It was only later when I began to panic. I rummaged through the house looking for my receipt. Thankfully, I found it. All the while I was telling myself, is this really happening?”
“Premyo sa Resibo” is a project of the BIR to support the government’s tax collection efforts by making sure that stores and establishments give customers their official receipts.
“You have a chance to win P1 million if you ask for the receipts and enter the O.R. number to the PSR raffle,” Finance Secretary Margarito Teves told the crowd at the Grand Christmas Draw on Dec. 19.
“Each time you participate, you also help the government collect more taxes. These would then go back to you through [the construction of] more public schools, hospitals, farm-to-market roads and bridges,” he said.
Secret to prosperity
Mandaluyong Mayor Benhur Abalos, who attended the event, said official receipts were the “secret” to achieving prosperity even in tough times, providing cities with enough funds to serve their constituencies.
Powered by Philweb, “Premyo sa Resibo” has awarded some P120 million to several lucky registrants from a pool of 136 million entries since 2006, officials said in a statement.
Philweb president Dennis Valdes announced that all entries beginning Dec. 19 would still be valid for the next draw on Jan. 16.
Beginning Dec. 20, two daily winners shall be awarded P5,000, and two weekly winners, P25,000 each. The prize of P1 million shall be awarded every two weeks starting Jan. 16.
How to join
To qualify, consumers should text the following information to 9777 for all mobile phone subscribers: PSR **.
Receipts over P100 may be entered as multiple entries, with every P100 increment corresponding to one raffle entry. A maximum of 600 raffle entries can be issued per text entry receipt. Each raffle entry costs P2.50.
All winners shall be notified and contacted by an official representative of Philweb.
At the recent draw, the entry number that won P1 million was 000132949901, the Toyota Vios, 000139213492, and the P100,000 prize, 000137118638.
Valdes said it normally took two weeks to double-check the winning entries and to verify the identities of the winners before they could be announced officially.
