MANILA – The Philippine Charity Sweepstakes Office (PCSO) on Sunday assured that its 6/55 lotto results are transparent and of utmost integrity.
Mel Robles, PCSO General Manager, made the assurance after a record 433 bettors won the PHP236-million jackpot prize for the Grand Lotto 6/55 draw on Saturday night.
The bettors guessed the winning combination of 09-45-36-27-18-54 and will equally share PHP236,091,188.
Robles said each winner will be taking home PHP545,245 subject to a final tax of 20 percent pursuant to Republic Act No. 10963, or the Tax Reform for Acceleration and Inclusion Law.
"PCSO assures every Filipino whether you are playing lotto or not that the conduct and result of every draw is very transparent and of utmost integrity. One thing is certain, if you will not play lotto, you will not have a chance to win and help the government and the country," he said in a statement.
Robles said the result of the October 1 Grand Lotto draw is an indication that the more one plays the lotto, the more a person has chances of winning.
"Every time you play, the entire nation wins. Each and every one of you playing any of the PCSO games is a big contributor to the funds provided by PCSO to the government, LGUs (local government units), and especially to the various charity programs of the agency. Without your PHP20, PCSO cannot give anything to anyone," he said.
He said the games of PCSO are games of chance and there is no science nor statistics involved in determining the winning numbers unless they will play all the number combinations.
Robles added there is also no human intervention in choosing the winning numbers as these are selected by the draw machines and the only act by a human is the pressing of the button to switch on the machine.
"No one can predict the result, no one can predict the number of winners or if there will be a winner as the numbers are randomly drawn during the actual draw," he said.
He noted that the actual draws are conducted in the presence of a Commission on Audit representative and telecast live via People's Television Network (PTV).
The draws are likewise streamed live over the official Facebook pages of PSCO, PCSO Games Hub, and PTV, and PCSO YouTube.
The public is urged to keep on patronizing the products of PCSO as a large chunk of its revenues goes to charity programs.
Probe
Still, the two-member minority bloc in the Senate will push for an investigation.
“I will file a resolution, because this is my concern. These lotto games are authorized by the Republic of the Philippines. Therefore, we need to maintain and protect the integrity of these gambling games that we have authorized,” Senate Minority Leader Aquilino Pimentel III said in a radio interview on Sunday.
"Para sa akin, bihira na nga ang may two winners (For me, having two winners is already rare)," Pimentel added.
Fellow opposition Senator Risa Hontiveros backed the suggestion to probe the draw.
"We just want to rule out any doubts in the public mind that the results have been manipulated. While we recognize that people tend to bet in patterns, we also want to make sure the system is secure, free from glitches, and trustworthy," she said in a statement. (PNA)
