SENATE probers may mount an inquiry into the weekend’s “doubtful” grand lotto jackpot result that Senate Minority Leader Aquilino “Koko” Pimentel III found to be “strange and unusual.”
The Senate Minority Leader confirmed over the weekend he is mulling over the filing of a resolution to audit and investigate the Philippine Charity Sweepstakes Office’s (PCSO) gaming activities, including the Filipinos’ most favorite lotto games, “to ensure their integrity and protect millions of Filipino bettors.”
Pimentel was prompted to press for a full-blown probe after finding as “strange and unusual” the result of the PCSO Grand Lotto draw last Saturday that had 433 bettors winning the P236-million jackpot.
The senator, a known mathematics expert besides being a Bar topnotcher, admitted he found it puzzling that 433 bettors will bet on the same winning number, citing the odds of this happening.
“Katakataka yung result na ’yan. ’Yung 433 ang mananalo, supposed to be…that 433 chances mo diyan is 1-in-how-many millions [That result is amazing. Having 433 people winning, supposed to be…that chances there is one in how many millions],” said Pimentel.
That means, he added, that is how difficult it is to win.
“So, ibig sabihin, ganun kahirap dapat tamaan ’yan and then to say na 433 ang tumama [that means, that’s how hard it is to win, and to say that 433 people got it], there is something suspicious.”
Protect the integrity
IN a television interview last Sunday, PCSO Chief Melquiades A. Robles stood by the lotto results and assured the public there was no anomaly there.
In a radio interview last Sunday, Pimentel said: “Many people were actually surprised…because, statistically speaking, this is a very rare event. Let us take this opportunity to investigate so that our purpose is to ensure the integrity of our lotto games.”
A Mathematics gold medalist during his school days, Pimentel asserted: “We have to look at the entire system of our lotto games. This is a good chance because many people are asking.”
He will file a resolution to investigate the matter, “because this is my concern, these lotto games are authorized by the Republic of the Philippines. Therefore, we need to maintain and protect the integrity of these gambling games that we have authorized.”
Pimentel said he also intends to “seek the opinion of statisticians and mathematicians regarding results of PCSO draws.”
“Let’s ask [the] PCSO if these winners had lucky pick (LP)—that means their number was system-generated, but therefore there is nothing random about their LP because it means they gave that number to 400-plus people, repeatedly. There are millions of combinations [in a lucky pick],” the lawmaker said.