Gov’t worker claims P72 M lotto prize, will donate part to church

FILE PHOTO

MANILA, Philippines—The winning numbers came from a chapel, and to the chapel part of the winnings will go.

A national government employee working in the city of Manila took home on Friday more than P72 million in winnings from the Philippine Charity Sweepstakes main office in Pasay city.

The 51-year-old government worker, husband, and father of two was the lone winner of the Superlotto 6/49 draw last July 31.

When he went to pick up the check for P72,709,153.20 at PCSO on Friday morning, he told officials the winning combination he had bet on—02-28-10-07-38-08— “came from a chapel” under construction in his home province.

PCSO media coordinator Joseph Muego explained man may have been referring to the number of the building permit for the chapel.

The winner recently visited his home province and checked on the chapel before placing his bet on July 31, narrated Muego.

The man bought the ticket at a lotto outlet inside a supermarket near Nagtahan Bridge. He and his wife were grocery-shopping and decided to bet P360 at the outlet before heading home.

“Hindi ko po akalain na tinamaan ko po ‘yung jackpot prize. Swerte lang po talaga,” he told PCSO general manager Jose Ferdinand Rojas II on Friday. The man had been betting for seven years, thrice a week.

Rojas reported the lottery winner as saying he will head back to his province and use the money to finish the construction of the chapel, save for his children’s education and help the needy.