‘Yolanda’ survivor claims P24M prize

MANILA, Philippines–Like many survivors of Supertyphoon “Yolanda” (international name: Haiyan), this government employee lost everything he worked so hard for when the killer storm made landfall in Eastern Samar more than a year ago.

Last week, the civil servant, a 56-year-old father of five, finally got the break he needed when he claimed the jackpot close to P24 million he won in the Feb. 21 draw of Lotto 6/42.

The lone winner took home P23,683,644 when he got the winning combination 02-10-13-26-27-41 through the lottery’s lucky pick feature, wherein the numbers are electronically generated.

The winner was “in tears” when he claimed his prize at the head office of the Philippine Charity Sweepstakes Office (PCSO) in Mandaluyong City last Tuesday, said acting PCSO Chair and General Manager Ferdinand Rojas II.

Rojas said the winner was “thankful” to the agency for the chance his family was given to rebuild their lives.

The winner told Rojas that he lost his house and small piggery when Yolanda wreaked havoc in the Visayas in November 2013.

“All of my children also left for Cebu because of the hard economic conditions in our town,” Rojas quoted the winner as saying. “That’s why I’m so thankful for my win because I can finally rebuild what we lost [from the storms].

The winner, a lotto player for two decades now, plans to build a new house for him and his wife in their town, which he requested not to disclose for security reasons, according to Rojas.

He would also buy his children a house and lot in Cebu.

The PCSO chief said the winner would also set aside a portion of his winnings for his children’s future, as well as to start up a new business.

He, however, has yet to decide on what the nature of his business would be.

The winner follows another lucky player from the Eastern Visayas who claimed his P50-million prize two weeks ago.

While both are government employees and Yolanda survivors, the previous winner can be considered more fortunate since his family and property were left unscathed by the storm.

Originally posted: 3:55 PM | Monday, March 9th, 2015

RELATED STORY

Unscathed by ‘Yolanda’, Leyte gov’t employee now wins P50M lotto jackpot