Unclaimed lotto prizes reach P3 B

MANILA, Philippines - The total amount of unclaimed lotto prizes from 2006 to 2013 have reached over P3 billion, officials of the Philippine Charity Sweepstakes Office (PCSO) told lawmakers Wednesday.

The PCSO officials disclosed the figure during the resumption of the hearing of the House committee on games and amusement on the case of the Lotto 6/42 winner who could not claim his prize as his ticket was damaged.

PCSO acting chairman Jose Ferdinand Rojas said total unclaimed winnings from various lotto games has ballooned to P3,355,721,420.87. The bulk of the amount comes from small winnings that were presumably forgotten or neglected by winners.

Rojas said unclaimed prizes are kept by the PCSO for 12 months and they are placed into the charity fund when the period has lapsed.

During the hearing, the Commission on Audit (COA) said it will not oppose any move by the PCSO board if it decides in a resolution to pay the P12 million prize claimed by a family from Cavite who presented to the state lottery firm a half-burned lotto ticket that was rejected by computerized ticket readers.

Rojas, however, said the board is not likely going to give the prize to Antonio Failon Mendoza and his family despite the COA’s assurance.

He said the jackpot money will revert to the charity fund if no winner will surface on Oct. 2, 2015 or a year after the draw.

Cavite Rep. Elpidio Barzaga, chairman of the committee, together with Reps. Dan Fernandez, Roy Loyola, Romero Quimbo, and Luigi Quisumbing, asked the PCSO to consider its decision rejecting payment as they noted that various circumstances point to Mendoza as the holder of the winning ticket.