Manila lineman stunned by P119-M lotto jackpot prize

MANILA — This lineman from Manila definitely got the shock of his life when he won the P119-million lotto jackpot prize on Feb. 16, making him an official member of an elite group of lotto players who became multimillionaires overnight.

The 37-year-old father of three was the sole player to correctly guess the winning number combination 03-19-26-29-33-39 in the Feb. 16 draw of the Super Lotto 6/49. He is now richer by P119,100,028.

The winner told Philippine Charity Sweepstakes Office (PCSO) Vice Chair and General Manager Jose Ferdinand Rojas II that he would quit his decade-long job as a lineman and focus on the business that he and his wife would invest his prize in.

“I’m very thankful that I won the lotto. Now, I can quit from my dangerous job and open up my own business,” Rojas quoted the winner as saying.

Rojas, however, said that the couple has not decided on what type of enterprise that would be.

When the winner claimed his prize on Monday at the PCSO’s headquarters in Mandaluyong City, he told Rojas that he got some of the winning numbers from a dream and combined it with his birthdate. He added that he only bought a single ticket to hit the jackpot prize.

Apart from starting his own business, the winner, who has been playing the lottery over the last 17 years, said that he would buy a car and a house and lot for his family. He added that he would be saving the rest of his winnings for his children’s future.

The winner is the fifth lotto player who won and claimed his lotto prize this year. Unlike in the United States, lotto winners in the Philippines are not identified by the PCSO for security reasons.

On Monday, Rojas maintained that their policy on keeping the winner’s identity would not change.

“We don’t want to put our winners, especially those from the provinces, in harm’s way. [The non-identification of winners] is for their privacy and security. That is one way we can help give protection to them,” he said of the PCSO policy which has been implemented since 1996.

To assure the public of the winners’ existence, Rojas explained that the PCSO has been informing the Commission on Audit, the Bureau of the Treasury, and the Land Bank of the Philippines, to which the winner would encash his prize, on the winners’ identities.

Rojas has assured the public that the process implemented by the PCSO, particularly in the claiming of prizes, is aboveboard, noting that is has been certified by a third-party auditor. He added that, in fact, the PCSO has been set to receive within a month an ISO (International Organization for Standardization) certification.  SFM