Aquino wants to see bill taxing lotto winnings

MANILA, Philippines—President Benigno Aquino III has asked the Philippine Charity Sweepstakes Office (PCSO) to submit a draft bill of its proposal to levy a 20 percent tax on lottery winnings.

According to Presidential Spokesperson Edwin Lacierda, PCSO chair Margie Juico made the proposal after a US-based balikbayan who last year won the Grand Lotto jackpot worth more than P750 million was taxed for his winnings abroad.

Lacierda would not say whether Malacañang was inclined to support the PCSO proposal.

“We haven’t seen the draft yet so I can’t say one way or the other. The President was non-committal,” he said.

Painless tax

But Lacierda is apparently of the opinion that parting with 20 percent of a multi-million-peso lotto winnings would be painless for the winner.

“You won P100 million and you did nothing [to get it]. After paying the P20–million tax, you still have P80 million. And you didn’t work for it,” Lacierda said.

Meanwhile, bettors for the 6/55 Grand Lotto draw on Wednesday did not let Typhoon “Chedeng” get in the way of their getting a shot at the huge pot.

The prize was expected to reach P300 million, depending on the ticket sales—and the weather—in Wednesday night’s draw, which coincided with the expected landfall of Chedeng.

No one was able to pick the winning 6-digit combination of 25-37-40-26-07-28 last Monday, with a jackpot of P281,053,987.20.

But 45 bettors who missed the jackpot by just one number each won the second prize of P150,000.

The higher the ticket sales, the more of “the more of our countrymen in need” will be helped, said PCSO general manager Jose Ferdinand Rojas II.

Mega winner

Meanwhile, a 54-year-old accountant from Quezon City won the 6/45 Mega Lotto draw last Monday with a jackpot of P15,193,497.60.

The man, who said he had bought only one ticket, claimed his prize on Wednesday. He said he based his winning number combination of 30-17-09-32-33-15 from the birth dates of family members and significant numbers in his life.

One of the winners of the May 22 draw of the 6/49 Super Lotto also claimed his half of the P25 million prize on Wednesday. He was one of two bettors who got the winning combination of 10-12-21-25-29-37.

The 37-year-old winner from Laguna is a criminologist who used the system-7 lotto scheme. He said he was an occasional bettor for some years.

Both winners are government employees and said they plan to invest their prize money in businesses. With a report from Penelope Endozo