INQUIRER FILE PHOTO
MANILA, Philippines — This Leyte government employee’s luck never seems to run out.
In November 2013, his family and house were spared the wrath of Supertyphoon “Yolanda” (Haiyan) when most of the communities in the Eastern Visayas region were devastated and flattened. And just last week, he became the first winner of the Philippine Charity Sweepstakes Office’s (PCSO) newest game—the Ultra Lotto 6/58.
PCSO acting chair and general manager Jose Ferdinand Rojas II said the 59-year-old was the lone winner who correctly guessed the winning combination 05-16-17-47-53-58 in the game’s Feb. 22 draw.
The Ultra Lotto had its first draw on Feb. 8, and it took only five draws for the winner to take home the minimum guaranteed jackpot prize of P50 million.
Rojas said that the winner, who has been playing the national lottery for the past two decades, randomly picked the numbers and paid only P80. Despite the winner’s newfound wealth, the lucky bettor has no plans of retiring six years early from government service, according to Rojas.
The winner, who asked the PCSO not to reveal his hometown for security reasons, told Rojas when he claimed his prize at the agency’s head office in Mandaluyong City on Thursday that he would invest his winnings in his children’s future.
He added that he and his wife would also set up a business in the province to help boost the local economy, which has not recovered more than a year since Yolanda. The winner, however, has yet to decide on what kind of business he would invest his money in.