Tulfo grills PCSO execs on winners

A lotto winner who claimed prizes 36 times in a span of just six months and a bettor who gambled P90 million to actually win a P640-million jackpot were among the issues the Philippine Charity Sweepstakes Office (PCSO) executives answered at a hearing of the Senate committee on games and amusement yesterday.

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Sen. Raffy Tulfo, who chairs the panel, said “Person B” won P225,000 for 36 times from July to December – eight times in July, nine times in August, two times in September, four times in October, nine times in November and four times in December – and another P450,000 in November, which resulted in total winnings of P8.325 million.

PCSO general manager Melquiades Robles explained that Person B was not actually the winner all those times but merely a claimant of the winning tickets.

He pointed out that claimants of multiple prizes are usually asked by winners, who could be from far-flung areas and are not inclined to spend money for transportation, to just claim the winnings for them.