Senators catch lotto fever

Even the Senate was caught by the Lotto fever as at least five senators on Tuesday admitted that they took a swipe at the P354-million 6/55 Grand Lotto pot — the biggest prize in Philippines lotteries handled by the Philippine Charity and Sweepstakes Office (PCSO). Senate Majority Floor Leader Tito Sotto, Senators Francis Escudero, Juan Miguel Zubiri, Ramon Bong Revilla, and Senator Ralph Recto admitted that they bought Lotto tickets for Wednesday's draw for a chance to bag the grand prize. Escudero said he bought four combinations for three successive draws in case the pot is not won by anybody on Wednesday. He said he used the birthdays and ages of members of his family in determining the combination. He noted, however, that he has yet to decide where he would spend the P354-million prize should he bag it. "Para sa akin ayoko bilangin anumang pera na di ko pa hawak, mahirap at masakit sa ulo yun (I don't want to count money that I haven't even touched yet. That would be difficult)," he told reporters in an interview on Tuesday. Zubiri, however, said he already has a plan should he snag the elusive jackpot. "Sana manalo tayo, kasi kalahati nun gagastusin ko sa pagbayad ko ng advertising ko sa eleksyon. Yung kalahati siguro kung ako ay manalo at bigyan ng suwerte ng mahal na Diyos ay paghatian po natin yan sa iba't-ibang charitable institutions," he said in a separate interview. (I hope I win because I will spend half of it to pay for advertising for the elections and the other half to charitable institutions.) He said he betted on machine-generated combinations worth P1,000. He added that he usually buys P2,000 worth of Lotto tickets every time he goes home to Bukidnon. On the other hand, Revilla said he bought P500 worth of Lotto tickets while Recto said he bought three tickets in a bid to win the pot. "I advise you to bet on high numbers," said Recto. Non-issue Senate President Juan Ponce Enrile and Senator Teofisto Guingona III, for their part, said they did not buy Lotto tickets because they weren't really fans of the game. "Gambling was never part of my system. (But) that's their interest. I don't see an issue, lotto is legal," said Guingona, head of the Senate inquiry on the illegal numbers game jueteng. Zubiri likewise said that a bet placed with the PCSO helps a lot of charities. The PCSO said the 6/55 Grand Lotto jackpot prize reached P354,596,432.40 in Monday's draw, surpassing the P347,836,903.20 that two people won and shared in the 6/49 Super Lotto draw on February 22, 2009. The 6/55 Grand Lotto Draw has not had a winner for almost 6 months since it was first drawn on May 15, 2010, where it started with a minimum jackpot prize of P30 million. No one guessed the winning combination of 43-12-14-30-51-46 for the draw Monday night. Funds raised by the PCSO go to hundreds of health, medical, services and charity programs, such as donations of ambulances to far-flung barangays and support for orphanages.—JV, GMANews.TV