Filipino lotto jackpot winners pick their numbers through birthdays, dreams, the sound of geckos at night, and handwritten notebooks full of personal number codes.
And when they win, most say they will give to the church first, then think about the bank, then consider going into business, according to PCSO General Manager Melquiades “Mel” Robles, who has personally asked enough winners to know the patterns by heart.
Robles described the range of winner personalities in an interview on DZRH News program Special on Saturday on September 19, offering an intimate portrait of the Filipinos who play PCSO games and what the experience of winning means to them.
He said the methods for picking numbers are as varied as the winners themselves: some use birthdays, some use lucky numbers handed down from family, and some follow systems that would puzzle a statistician but clearly work for the people who use them.
“Merong alaga, birthday ‘yan. Ang alaga pwedeng birthday. Merong nakakatuwa ito, amusing, merong mga parang signos ganyan. Ang pinaka-amusing na nakuha ko, na natanong ko, on nature. Binibilang niya kung ilan ‘yung tuko, kung ilan ‘yung kuliglig na narinig niya. Anong tawag diyan? Anunsyo, sa kanya ‘yun ang anunsyo niya!” Robles said.
He said one winner even showed him a handwritten notebook—a personal manuscript filled with number codes derived from dreams, signs, and natural occurrences that the winner had developed over years as a private system for picking combinations.
“Meron na nga akong nakitang manuscript! Sir, may manuscript akong nakita, notebook. Ayun ang code niya! Parang pinakita, sabi ko pwede na palang ipa-print ‘to, anthology! Lottery tips, pwede ‘yun! Nakita ko talaga notebook, sulat-kamay,” Robles said.
He said whatever the method, the result speaks for itself, and once someone wins, the first instinct for about 80% of jackpot winners is to go to the church, suggesting that most lottery plays are accompanied by prayer, and winning is experienced as an answered one.
Robles said the stories remind him why PCSO’s slogan resonates: for millions of Filipinos, buying a lotto ticket is an act of hope, sometimes of faith, and in every case a small contribution to the charity programs that the agency uses its revenues to fund.
