‘Tell no one’ Makati bettor won P250M lotto

By: Niña Calleja - 11 years ago

INQUIRER FILE PHOTO

MANILA, Philippines—The first thing the holder of ticket number 39-21-42-28-05-27 will hear when he—or she—goes to the lottery office to claim the prize is: “Thank God you won, and, tell no one about this.”

A lone bettor who bought that ticket in Makati City won the P249.8 million jackpot prize in Monday night’s 6/55 Grand Lotto draw, the Philippine Charity Sweepstakes Office (PCSO) said on Tuesday.

The lucky winner has remained unidentified, as of Tuesday. The prize of P249,841,572 has been the biggest pot so far this year.

Until Monday, nobody had hit the winning combination in the 6/55 draw for more than three months, according to PCSO General Manager Jose Ferdinand Rojas II.

The winning bettor bought the ticket at an outlet along Washington Street in Barangay (village) Pio del Pilar.

Biggest winner

A sari-sari owner last won the Grand Lotto in January, taking home the jackpot prize of P155 million.

The biggest lotto prize in PCSO history was won in November 2010. A bettor residing in New York and visiting the Philippines won the P741.176 million prize, also in the 6/55 draw.

Before the actual draw on Monday night, lotto sales all over the country had reached P84,707,580.

The jackpot prize will be back to P30 million, its minimum amount, in the next draw on Wednesday.

From a dream

Last Friday, a businessman who hit the jackpot in the 6/49 Super Lotto draw on April Fools’ Day claimed his prize at the PCSO headquarters in Pasay City.

The 32-year-old father of two from Pampanga placed his bet on the winning combination 09-13-17-20-22-2. He said numbers came from his dream.

“Every time we have a grand winner we announce the location of the lucky lotto outlet where the winning ticket was bought,” Rojas told the Inquirer.

The PCSO normally awards a certificate to the lucky outlet to encourage bettors to buy their tickets there.

Rojas said disclosing the location of the lotto outlet where the winning ticket was bought would not be a threat to the winner.

“Even if we know the winner placed his bet in Makati, we are not sure if he lives near the area,” said Rojas.

Monday night’s prize was the biggest so far this year.

The PCSO expects the winner to claim the prize this week—before the start of the Holy Week.

“He or she could be waiting for the news about the win to die down before he comes here to claim the prize,” Rojas said.

“Most of the winners come here with all things already planned. Some come with their families. There is comfort and safety in numbers,” Rojas said.

The winner will receive his prize in full through a check issued by the Land Bank of the Philippines.

While it has always been the policy of the PCSO to keep the identity of the winner confidential, Rojas said he would have the picture of the winning ticket taken as proof that the winnings had been claimed.

Originally posted: 12:16 pm | Tuesday, April 8th, 2014