Ultra Lotto jackpot exceeds P1 billion; PCSO says even foreigners can win

MANILA, Philippines –  The jackpot prize for the Philippine Charity Sweepstakes Office (PCSO) Ultra Lotto 6/58 has breached P1 billion and continues to climb as the country’s richest lottery winnings ever. 

PCSO General Manager Alexander Balutan said Monday, October 8, there was still no winner as of the October 7 (45-21-02-30-07-10) draw. Up for grabs during the weekend draw was already an unprecedented P954,503,164.

Balutan said PCSO is again expecting long lines of bettors for the Tuesday evening, October 9 draw. 

But here’s the catch. Balutan said even foreigners can bet and win in Philippine lotto draws, as long as they are at least aged 18 years old. 

“Even foreigners can win the jackpot prize if they bought a ticket as long as they are 18 years old and above, which is the age requirement, and as long the claimant has the winning ticket, he or she can take home the jackpot prize,” he said.

The PCSO chief said he has received reports that many foreigners have been purchasing lotto tickets, enticed by the huge payoff. 

Ultra Lotto draws are held Tuesday, Friday and Sunday. To win, a bettor must select 6 numbers from 1 to 58 or play Lucky Pick (LP) for a randomly generated numbers. Each bet cost P24.00.

Whenever then is no winner of a draw, the prize money is rolled over and grows bigger.

No one has picked the right Ultra Lotto combinations in past 110 weeks. 

“Itong P1-billion jackpot prize ay napaka-historic sa PCSO, lahat, lalo na ‘yung mga tumataya eh excited, ‘di na mapakali, at gustung-gusto na talagang manalo. (This P1-billion jackpot prize is historic for PCSO, everyone is very excited. They all want to win the top prize.) Whoever wins this prize will be the first-ever PCSO billionaire,” Balutan said.

Balutan said, if he had his way, he wants many people to share the big jackpot prize “so many will become millionaires.”

“Sana maraming manalo para distributed ‘yung jackpot prize lalo na itong P1 bilyon kasi sobrang laki n’yan, nakakalula! Para marami tayong mapaligaya. At habang papalaki ng papalaki ang naman ang jackpot, lumalaki din ang sales natin sa Ultra Lotto. Napalaking tulong ito sa ating charity fund. Sana may masuwertehan na talaga,” he said.

(I hope many will win to distribute the jackpot prize, specially this P1 billion prize which is so big it makes you dizzy. I hope we can make many people happy. And as the jackpot money keeps getting bigger, so does our Ultra Lotto sales. This will be a big boost to our charity fund. I hope someone get’s lucky soon.)

The biggest PCSO lottery ever claimed by a single winner was the November 29, 2010, Grand Lotto 6/55 which saw a a “balikbayan” from Olongapo City,  bring home the P741-million jackpot. Balutan said the 60-year-old Filipino winner resided in New York and bought the ticket at Royal Duty Free Mall in Subic, Olongapo.” His winning combination was 11-16-42-47-31-37. 

The last winners of the Ultra Lotto were two bettors who correctly got the winning combination of 15-31-28-25-42-11 last February 16. They shared the cash prize of P331,971,464.

Balutan said bettors should keep their tickets with care. Damaged winning tickets will not be honored.

“Remember to keep your tickets and keep it in a safe place. You might not win the entire six digits, but you have a prize if you got the four winning combinations correctly,” he said.

According to the Ultra Lotto rules on the PCSO website: bettors who get 5 of the 6 winning numbers may win at least 280,000.00; 4 correct numbers may win up to 3,800.

The actual consolation cash prizes “are determined based on the total sales generated and the number of winners on the particular draw.”

Jackpot winners should bring two valid identification cards, and present the winning ticket to the prize claim section of the accounting and budget department at PCSO headquarters in Mandaluyong City.

After validation, the treasury department, will turnover cheque indicating the amount won with the winner’s name.

Winners can encash the cheque at the Landbank of the Philippines or open a bank account for safekeeping.

Of course, Balutan said all lotteries are games of chance. However, there is one thing certain the winner of the billion-peso Ultra Lotto jackpot will pay a 20 percent tax due to the government and the amount will be automatically deducted. That’s mandated by TRAIN law.  – Rappler.com

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