PAST LOTTO WINNER GIVES PIECE OF ADVICE TO P300-M JACKPOT
WINNERS
MANILA, SEPTEMBER 14, 2012 (PHILSTAR) The P14-million jackpot
lotto winner in 2008 who spent all of his winnings in three months gave a piece
of advice to the two winners of the nearly P300 million lotto jackpot.
In a radio interview Thursday, Dionie Reyes, an employee, said the winners of
the 6/55 lotto should think of ways to grow their winnings.
"Huwag nila akong parisan at tularan. Ingatan nila [ang pera] para palaguin
para ang mga kamag-anak na gusto nila matulungan, matulungan nila," Reyes said.
Besides buying a house and a car, Reyes said he also shared his winning to
his siblings and relatives. However, he said he spent most of the money in
gambling, particularly cockfighting. He said he used to spend P10,000 for every
cockfight that he joined.
Reyes, an employee, said he now goes to work everyday, hitching a ride in the
car that he bought for his brother from his winning.
Although he lost all his money, Reyes said he makes do with what he has now.
"Lumaki akong mahirap, sanay ako sa wala," Reyes said.
He still buys lotto ticket, hoping that he would be given a second chance to
win.
"Kung mabibigyan ng pangalawang pagkakataon [para manalo], aking iingatan at
palalaguin ang pera para matulungan muli ang kamag-anak ko. Aalisin ko po ang
pagsusugal ko. Kapag mayroon [akong pera], nagsusugal ako. Ngayon po, iingatan
ko ang pera," he said.
The Philippine Charity Sweepstakes Office has disclosed that two persons won
the P299.897 million jackpot. One of the winners bought the winning ticket in
Luzon, and the other in the Visayas.
RELATED EARLIER REPORT
Lotto Winner Spends P14M In Just 3 Months Manila
Bulletin – Tue, Mar 13, 2012.
MANILA, Philippines - For three months, Dionie Reyes (DR) - winner of
P14,125,032 in the Lotto 6/42 draw on April 22, 2008 - lived the life of a
millionaire, something he had been longing to experience.
He lived in a P4-million house in a posh subdivision, drove around in a
sports utility vehicle (SUV), and gave goodwill money, ranging P1,000 to P
850,000, to relatives and friends. He also gambled daily, womanized, and went on
regular drinking sprees.
In an exclusive interview, DR told the Manila Bulletin that he did not regret
throwing all the money away, because it was his, he enjoyed it to the hilt, and
he did not take it from anybody else.
"I won it from a lotto game of PCSO (Philippine Charity Sweepstakes Office),"
DR said.
"It was my money. I spent my P14 million in three months," he admits.
But in the end, he felt sorry for his unbridled spending spree.
From being an instant millionaire, DR now owes some people about P500,000.
And to underscore his current state of living, DR underwent a heart surgery
at the Philippine Heart Center (PHC) last September without any cash on hand.
And he had to thank the PCSO management for helping him pay for the cost of
operation of about P500,000, more or less.
Nearly four years after his lucky streak, the married native of Las Piñas,
now 47, with an 11-years-old adopted son, said he wants to tell his story so
others who may strike gold, or already did, with the lotto games may learn a
lesson or two from his experience.
When this pen pusher, rather Blackberry user, told him his name will not be
mentioned to shield him from any uninvited or unintended consequences of his
coming out in public, he won't have it that way.
"If you are not going to mention my name, then there is no use telling my
story. Readers may not believe your article. You may even use my photograph," he
insists.
"After all, I have nothing to fear. That was about four years ago already. I
had spent all my winnings. Nothing is left, except my house and the things I
gave my relatives, office mates, friends, and acquaintances," he says.
DR recalled that before his mother Paz died at 71 in 2004, she used to tell
him that she had been praying for him to win in the lotto play.
"Anak, ipinagdarasal ko na manalo ka na ng lotto para makatikim naman tayo ng
ginhawa (Son, I have been praying that you win in the lotto so we can have a
better life)," DR recalls his mother telling him.
DR proudly said that being the youngest of his six siblings made him the
favorite of his mother. He has five sisters and a brother.
About four years after his mother's demise, DR finally hit the jackpot, using
a Lucky Pick, System 7 bet worth P70. A System 7 bet has seven combinations.
"It was a Tuesday when I hit the jackpot. My boss announced that a lotto
machine gave out the winning numbers for 6/42, Lucky Pick, and System 7,"
relates DR.
"I had all the three categories. So, I silently hoped that I am the winner,"
says DR. He did not check his ticket yet.
Wednesday evening, after work, like in many other days before, DR went on
another drinking session.
He still did not check his lotto ticket in his wallet, which by then was
already drenched with his own urine because of too much drinking.
Friday, at lunch time, while eating with an office mate, DR took out his
smelly wallet and got the 6/42 ticket. He had memorized the winning combination,
09-15-18-23-28-40, which had at stake P14,125,032.
"Uy, I got three... four... five numbers," DR exclaims, as excitement
overwhelmed him. He said he no longer mentioned he got all the six drawn
numbers. He just nudged his officemate, who got the message.
"At 1 p.m., accompanied by my boss, I had my winning ticket validated at the
PCSO's Internal Audit Department. The lotto machine did not accept it at first
because of urine smudge. So, the validation was done manually, entering into the
lotto machine the security numbers in the ticket," recounts DR.
The PCSO validation machine confirmed DR won the more than P14-million
jackpot.
"After about an hour, I got the check and I went to the bank, still with my
boss," he said.
"Lahat tayo may pangarap. Gusto ko talaga magkaroon ng kotse, magandang
bahay, at makahawak ng malaking pera. Kaya sinabi ko sa bangko bigyan ako ng
isang milyon na cash at tulungan ako makabili ng Toyota Fortuner na usong-uson
noon," he recalls with fondness.
He said he was adamant he wanted to go home driving his new car, and a
million-peso cash with him. The bank made sure he got them. It was already
evening when he got his shiny Sports Utility Vehicle (SUV).
Later, DR also bought a P4-million house and lot at BF Homes in Las Piñas.
Out of his winnings, he gave his six siblings P50,000 each; another P500,000
to one of his nephews for a three-door apartment he wanted to build; and from
R1,000 to R30,000 to some of his office mates; and R100,000 to his boss.
He gifted a nephew of his wife with a car worth P850,000, a Mitsubishi
Fuzion. DR now hitches a ride with him every time he goes to work.
For a month, he did not go home to Cavite where he lived at the time he won.
He stayed with a sister-in-law in Parañaque City.
When he finally showed up in Cavite, he gave away from P5,000 to P50,000 to
some friends and neighbors.
DR estimated he gave away about P2 million or more for "balato" to relatives,
friends, neighbors, and office mates, not counting people he did not know who
came to him to borrow money.
"I just gave them and told them not to pay me back," he says.
Just over a year later, he sold his car and then his house at BF Homes. He
bought another house also in Las Piñas worth P1.7 million. He now wants to sell
the house to pay off debts.
DR narrated that the rest of his money, about P10 million, was gone in only
three months.
"I spent all my money through daily gambling, especially cockfighting,
drinking sprees nightly, and womanizing. Almost every day, I lost a minimum of
P100,000 in cockfighting. It was very quick, I had an especial ATM (automated
teller machine) card issued by my bank," DR says.
"Every time I came home, my wife just cried and cried. She asked me many
times to stop. I did not listen. My siblings also asked me to change ways and
have a new life," he recalls.
"I did not listen to any of them. It was my money, anyway. I won it fairly
not at the expense of others," DR maintains.
Chief News Editor: Sol Jose Vanzi
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