Winners start claiming their share of P236-M Grand Lotto jackpot prize

The Philippine Charity Sweepstakes Office (PSCO) on Monday said some winners of Saturday's Grand Lotto 6/55 draw have started claiming their share of the P236.091-million jackpot prize.

In a Facebook post, the PCSO said one of the 433 winners claimed his take home prize of around P500,000.

"Nagpapasalamat po ako sa PCSO na marami kaming nabibiyayaan ng Jackpot Prize. Nagbiyahe po ako ng sampung oras upang makarating dito at makuha ang aking napanalunan," the PCSO quoted one unnamed winner as saying.

"Tumataya po talaga ako ng pattern 9, pattern 8, pattern 7 at pattern 6 sa loob ng maraming taon at ako'y nagpapasalamat na ngayon ay napanalunan ko na," the same lucky bettor added.

(I thank the PCSO that many have won the jackpot prize. I traveled 10 hours just to claim my prize. I've been using patterns 9, 8, 7 and 6 in betting for years, and now I'm glad that I won.)

In another Facebook post, the PSCO also shared some photos of winners showing their winning tickets.

Following the 9 p.m. draw on October 1 for the 6/55 lottery, the PCSO revealed that 433 bettors got the winning combination of 09-45-36-27-18-54. The winners are said to be spread across the country.

PCSO General Manager Melquiades Robles on Sunday said all the 433 winners have been accounted for.

Prior to the draw on Saturday evening, the PCSO said a number of bettors had continued to place bets on the first six multiples of the number nine, with 33 bets on September 20, and 264 bets on September 26.

While many people are questioning the results of the draw, Robles said that they found nothing wrong with the draw and its results.

Senate Minority Leader Aquilino “Koko” Pimentel III has flagged the results and called for an investigation, which Robles welcomed.

According to UP Institute of Mathematics Professor and OCTA Research Fellow Dr. Guido David, the probability that a bettor would hit six numbers out of the 55 is one out of 30 million. —Mel Matthew Doctor/KBK, GMA News