If she had only waited a bit longer, maybe they would still be together and with a fancy house to boot.
Now, he is all alone with his two kids—but with millions of pesos in the bank to savor.
Two years ago, his wife left him and his children because he could not provide for his family’s basic needs. Yesterday, Monday, this tricycle driver from Quezon City found himself with more than enough money at his disposal after he won the Mega Lotto 6/45’s jackpot prize of over P59 million.
The 29-year-old father of two was the sole player who picked the winning combination of 02-03-14-22-29-30 in the lottery’s March 20 draw, according to the Philippine Charity Sweepstakes Office (PCSO) acting chair and general manager, Jose Ferdinand Rojas II.
Family quarrels
The tricycle driver showed up at the PCSO head office in Mandaluyong City and claimed the prize of P59,206,432.
He told Rojas that in the last two years he had been playing the role of both father and mother to his children after his wife dumped him because of the family’s financial woes.
“My wife and I would often argue and fight because my earnings from driving the tricycle weren’t enough to provide for our family’s basic needs,” Rojas quoted the winner as saying.
In fact, the PCSO chief said the winner’s income from driving the tricycle was so meager his two kids were forced to quit school two years ago.
No allowances
“Most of the time, my kids would go to school without an allowance. They were forced to quit school because I did not have the money to buy them the necessary school supplies,” the winner told Rojas.
He said the situation proved unbearable to his wife. In 2013, she left him and their kids.
Now that his fate had turned, the single father said he would use his winnings to buy his family a new house and a lot.
Not only that. He would also buy a car to fetch and drive his children, who would resume their studies in the coming school year.
Only one ticket
Rojas said that the winner also intended to keep a portion of his winnings in the bank so they would not slip back to poverty.
The winner, however, kept mum when asked by Rojas if a reunion with his estranged wife was possible now that he had more than enough to provide for his family.
Rojas said the winner started playing the lottery only a year ago. He based his winning combination on his and his children’s birth dates and ages.
And he bought only a single ticket.
The 6/45 jackpot prize went up to more than P59 million when no lucky player guessed the winning combinations in the last 16 draws, starting on Feb. 16.
Biggest win: P741 million
In November 2010, a 60-year-old balikbayan from New York became the agency’s biggest winner when he won the P741 million Grand Lotto jackpot prize.
For this year, the biggest lotto winner—so far—is a 50-year-old retired soldier from Nueva Ecija province, who took home the Jan. 11 Super Lotto jackpot prize of P160 million.
The PCSO has five games which give players a chance to win at least P6 million every night.
These are the Lotto 6/42 (P6 million), Mega Lotto 6/45 (P9 million), Super Lotto 6/49 (P16 million), Grand Lotto 6/55 (P30 million) and the newest, Ultra Lotto 6/58 (50 million).