PHILIPPINE Charity Sweepstakes Office (PCSO) general manager Alexander Balutan reported that the Lotto has already produced 40 millionaires from January to August, sharing a total jackpot prize of P1,633,398,987.
“For security purposes, we are withholding their names. The latest winner of 6/42 came from Makati. As of today, no winner yet for Ultra Lotto 6/58 and it has already an estimated P525 million jackpot prize,” Balutan said.
For January to August, Lotto 6/42 has produced 14 millionaires, sharing the prize of P301,712,837; Mega Lotto 6/45 has 10 millionaires, sharing the prize of P304,110,100; Super Lotto 6/49 has seven millionaires, sharing the prize of P353,582,396; Grand Lotto 6/55 has seven millionaires as well, sharing the prize of P342,022,199.
“So far, we only have two lucky millionaires for Ultra Lotto 6/58 since February 16, 2018 who shared the prize of P331,971,464. The overall jackpot sales is P8,132,930,680 for Lotto alone,” Balutan said.
PCSO charter mandates that 55 percent of its revenues should be allocated for prizes, 15 percent for operational expenses, and 30 percent for its “charity fund.”
Recently, PCSO Charity Assistance Department (CAD) has modified its budget allocation program for its medical assistance services due to the overutilization of funds.
The Budget Department has called the attention of CAD with regard to its fund utilization for the year. The Individual Medical Assistance Program (IMAP) already exceeded its utilization by more than P500 million.
“This is attributed to a marked increase in the number of beneficiaries availing of financial support from the agency by 27.93 percent for the first semester of 2018 compared to its 2017 data of the same period. This is compounded further by the rising cost in healthcare treatment,” explained assistant general manager for charity sector Dr. Larry Cedro in response to several complaints from patients at the Lung Center of the Philippines from the time the shift in providing assistance was implemented.
The daily allocation for Individual Medical Assistance Program (IMAP) now is P4.1 Million which resulted in the reduction of the number of applications the PCSO may accept and process.
“We are asking for everyone’s understanding and cooperation. This is only temporary and the management is doing everything in order to address the issue.” said Cedro./PN
