Sidewalk vendor wins P18M lotto prize

MANILA, Philippines—A 54-year-old female sidewalk vendor from Parañaque City will no longer have to play cat-and-mouse  with the authorities while selling her wares  after she won over P18 million in last Wednesday’s 6/45 Mega Lotto draw.

According to Philippine Charity Sweepstakes Office general manager Jose Ferdinand Rojas II, the winner, who is still single, plans to spend part of her prize to put up a grocery store.

“She’s  expanding her business and she said she intends to buy a  house and lot,” Rojas said, adding that the lucky bettor went to the PCSO office at the Philippine International Convention Center (PICC) in Pasay City on Friday to claim her P18,376,725.60 prize.

The  bettor paid P60 for a lotto ticket that hit the winning combination  23-13-10-37-35-19. She placed her bet at a lotto outlet in Upper Bicutan, Taguig where she sold her wares, the PCSO said.

The bettor, who under lottery rules is never identified for security reasons, hit the jackpot after a year of regularly buying tickets and consistently placing bets on her favorite number combinations, it added.

“Inaalagaan talaga niya yung numbers na yon (she really nursed those numbers). And now her persistence paid off and it was definitely worth the wait,” Rojas added.

Another bettor also became an instant millionaire after winning the June 23 Lotto 6/42 draw.

The PCSO said the lone winner hit the jackpot prize of P18,860,232.60 after correctly guessing the winning combination of  14-30-07-13-42-29.

“The winner placed his or her a bet at a lotto outlet in Iloilo City,” the PCSO said.

Earlier this month, a barangay tanod, or member of a neighborhood watch, in Las Piñas City claimed the P356.5-million Grand Lotto prize, the second biggest-ever pot in Philippine state lottery.

In December last year, the lottery paid out a record P741 million to a 63-year-old US-based Filipino who had bought the winning ticket while on vacation in the Philippines.