SENATE Minority Leader Aquilino "Koko" Pimentel III said he will file a resolution seeking the conduct of investigation on the Philippine Charity Sweepstakes Office's (PCSO) gaming activities following the winning of 433 lotto bettors in a single draw.
Pimentel said this is to ensure the integrity of the PCSO games and activities and to protect the Filipino enthusiasts.
On Saturday, October 1, 433 bettors hit the PCSO 6/55 Grand Lotto with a jackpot prize of P236,091,188.40, making it first in the history of the Philippines.
Pimentel said the result was “strange and unusual,” noting that chances of winning lotto are “one in a million.”
"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," he said.
He said he will seek the opinion of statisticians and mathematicians regarding results of PCSO draws.
"Tanungin natin ang PCSO kung mga lucky pick (LP) ba itong mga winners na ito, that means system-generated ‘yung number nung tumaya pero therefore, there is nothing random about their LP kasi ibig sabihin nun binigay nila sa 400 plus katao, umulit-ulit. Millions po ang combination diyan," he added.
PCSO General Manager earlier maintained that there was no irregularity and that what happened was a “natural occurrence.”
The winning combination was 09-45-36-27-18-54, all of which were divisible by nine.
Each of the 433 winning bettors will get P545,254.24. (SunStar Philippines)