2 brothers win 2/3 of P94M Super Lotto jackpot

MANILA, Philippines—Lady luck must have felt generous on Sunday night.

Betting on one set of numbers containing their birthdays and significant digits in their family for as long as they could remember, two brothers were among the three winners of the P94 million jackpot of the SuperLotto 6/49 on Sunday, the official of the Philippine Charity Sweepstakes Office (PCSO) said.

The middle-aged brothers, whose identities the agency withheld for security reasons, usually bought a ticket, with either one of them doing the purchase, said PCSO general manager Jose Ferdinand Roxas II. They claimed their winnings on Monday afternoon.

No information was available on the third bettor as the person has yet to make a claim on the prize, the PCSO said.

“The elder brother was a soldier who was on duty most of the time, so his younger brother, a building maintenance employee, was usually in charge of buying the ticket,” the official said.

But on Sunday, the circumstances were different, Roxas continued.

It occurred that one brother was on his rest day and he decided to place the bet on the numbers 05-25-08-21-17-06 himself. His younger brother, meanwhile, did the same without telling his elder sibling.

When the draw was completed past 9 p.m., the elder brother called his sibling and told him they hit the jackpot, Roxas said.

“I won too,” Roxas quoted the younger brother as telling his elder sibling. “I bought a ticket as well.”

The PCSO official said it was the first time in years that brothers won a lotto jackpot having separate tickets.

The men said they planned to buy houses for themselves and deposit the rest of the winnings, each of which was over P31 million tax-free, in the bank.

Roxas advised them to consult a fund manager on their finances and carefully spend their winnings instead of going on splurge with it.

“I also encouraged them to lend a helping hand to charities because a lot of people are also in need,” he said.