THE Philippine Charity Sweepstakes Office (PCSO) clarified the observations raised by Sen. Raffy Tulfo about an individual that had purportedly won the lottery games 20 times.

In its statement, the PCSO said the list that Sen. Tulfo refers to originated from PCSO and it should not be interpreted in a manner other than what it is meant to be.

It said that the name of a person who, on several occasions, claimed lower tier prizes in the digit games.

“To begin with, we would like to underscore that those are not Jackpot Lottery Games but only for our Digit Games,” the statement reads.

The PCSO said that Sen. Tulfo apparently failed to notice was that the same list would also show that for jackpot-bearing games like Lotto 6/42, Mega Lotto 6/45, Super Lotto 6/49, Grand Lotto 6/55, and Ultra 6/58, no winner won more than once.

“The real issue here therefore is the claimant, and not the number of times that he supposedly won as what Sen. Tulfo seemed to have assumed,”

To be clear, the PCSO said the reported 20 claims made by one person does not necessarily make that claimant the winner of 20 Digit Games.

For Digit Games such as 2D, 3D, 4D, and 6D, PCSO lotto outlet agents or representatives of the winners can collect the winnings on their behalf.

Since they were just minor prizes, a winner can ask someone he trusts to claim the prize for him through the so-called “paki -claim”.

Some of the reasons for “paki-claim” scheme was due to distance and lack of valid identification cards of winners, since prizes of P10,000 and up must be claimed at the branch offices where they will be required to present a valid ID.

Also, some winners would not want to go to branch office because of added expenses, so the lotto agents would act as Good Samaritans and do it for them.

On the other hand, for jackpot-bearing games like Lotto 6/42, Mega Lotto 6/45, Super Lotto 6/49, Grand Lotto 6/55, and Ultra Lotto 6/58, winners are required to personally appear at the PCSO Main Office to claim their jackpot prizes.

“Certainly, our lotto winners’ safety, security, and well-being are paramount in all our endeavors,” the PCSO said.