PCSO rolls out new lotto game with higher prizes

MANILA, Philippines–Starting next month, lotto players can now win at least P50 million twice a week after the Philippine Charity Sweepstakes Office (PCSO) board approved on Tuesday the roll-out of its newest game—the Ultra Lotto 6/58.

In a statement, PCSO acting chair and general manager Jose Ferdinand Rojas II said the new lotto game, which would start on Feb. 8, would “provide players more chances [of becoming] a millionaire,” as well as allow the agency “to raise more funds for charity.”

In a recent Inquirer interview, PCSO assistant general manager for charity Larry Cedro noted “the influx of people seeking medical assistance” after the Supreme Court declared the legislator’s Priority Development Assistance Fund as unconstitutional.

He pointed out that last year their agency assisted more than 50,000 dialysis patients and helped augment the cost of hospitalization of over 80,000 patients. Both sectors registered an increase of 10,000 patients.

The new game, which will be drawn every Sunday and Friday, would have the same mechanics as those of existing lotto games. The only difference, Rojas said, is that players now need to pick six numbers from one to 58.

Once the Ultra Lotto 6/58 starts its draw next month, which is the first PCSO game to be introduced in four years, it would become the agency’s game with the highest minimum jackpot prize at P50 million.

Currently, the Grand Lotto 6/55 has the highest minimum jackpot prize at P30 million, followed by Super Lotto 6/49 (P16 million), Mega Lotto 6/45 (P9 million) and 6/42 (P6 million).

Rojas said he hopes “the public will support this new game” to allow them to “raise more funds for medical assistance and other charitable programs.” He noted that “the bigger the minimum jackpot guaranteed prize, the more the players like it.”