FACEBOOK PHOTO/PCSO
After running into debts, losing his wife and playing with numbers for 19 years, this father of two has finally hit the jackpot.
Now, this dental technician from Marikina City not only will be able to pay his debts. He also plans to have his own dental laboratory.
On Friday, he took home close to P36 million after winning the jackpot prize of the Mega Lotto 6/45.
The 42-year-old father of two was the lone player to pick the winning combination 09-25-26-28-29-42 in the lottery’s July 20 draw.
He won exactly P35,836,228.
“The jackpot prize would really help me improve my family’s life. I’m more than happy I won after all these years of playing the lotto,” the winner told Jose Ferdinand Rojas II, general manager of the Philippine Charity Sweepstakes Office (PCSO), when he claimed the prize.
On claiming his winnings at the PCSO head office in Mandaluyong, the winner said he would use his winnings to pay his debts.
He said he also planned to invest part of the money to set up his own dental laboratory.
Then he would save the rest for his children’s future, noting that he was the only one now raising them since his marriage fell apart a few years ago.
Rojas said the winner had been working as a dental technician for a standalone private laboratory for two decades now. The laboratory supplies and produces dentures for dentists.
The winner, who bought two tickets, told Rojas that he had been playing the lottery for 19 years before hitting the jackpot. He said he got his winning combination from the ages and birth dates of his family members.
Rojas said the Mega Lotto’s minimum guaranteed prize of P9 million grew to almost P36 million after no player guessed the right combination in its last nine draws, starting June 26.
Rojas said the winner was the 17th person to become a multimillionaire for playing the Mega Lotto, which has released a total prize amounting to P311,956,740 this year.
Meanwhile, the charity agency Hepatology Society of the Philippines and Medical City in Pasig City are to host a party on Tuesday for liver transplant patients in the hospital.
Larry Cedro, PCSO assistant general manager for charity services, said this was in line with the celebration of Liver Month and part of the agency’s efforts “to increase awareness on the conditions that can lead to liver disease.”
Cedro said the PCSO would also reiterate today its commitment to provide financial assistance to patients suffering from liver disease.
Cedro said the PCSO had helped around 20 liver transplant patients since 2005. He urged the public to continue supporting the lotto games so that the PCSO could help more patients needing medical assistance.
The PCSO spends an average of P18.5 million daily for individual medical assistance.
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