Lotto bettor owes luck to hometown chapel

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

A national government employee working in Manila took home on Friday more than P72 million in winnings from the Philippine Charity Sweepstakes Office headquarters in Pasay City.

The 51-year-old father of two was the lone winner of the Superlotto 6/49 draw on July 31.

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

PCSO media coordinator Joseph Muego said the man was probably referring to the building permit number of the chapel.

A few days before the draw, the winner visited his home province and checked on the chapel, Muego said.

The man bought the winning ticket on July 31 at a lotto outlet inside a supermarket near Nagtahan Bridge in Sampaloc, Manila. He and his wife were shopping for groceries and decided to buy tickets worth P360 before heading home.

He ended up a multimillionaire later that night. “I was never expecting to hit the jackpot. This is sheer luck,” he told PCSO General Manager Jose Ferdinand Rojas II on Friday. The man had been placing bets for seven years, thrice a week.

Rojas quoted the winner as saying that he will return to his province and use the money to finish the construction of the chapel, save for his children’s education and help the poor.