Congress Moves to Probe 433-Winner Lotto Draw

A resolution that seeks to investigate the highly controversial state-run Philippine Charity Sweepstakes Office (PCSO) lotto results with 433 winners has been filed in the House of Representatives.

House Resolution No. 463 was filed by House Minority Leader and 4Ps Party-list Rep. Marcelino “Nonoy” Libanan on Tuesday, emphasizing the need to “protect and ensure the integrity” of the lotto draw.

The resolution enables the inquiry into the 6/55 lotto draw which was conducted by PCSO on October 1.

Libanan said that the integrity of the lotto draw should be protected and ensured as lotto draws contribute to different government programs such as public health, and services to indigents.

“There is a need for Congress to protect and ensure the integrity of the lotto draws that contribute in a big way to government coffers and help finance public health programs, as well as medical assistance and services to indigents, among other charities,” Libanan said.

Moreover, the 4Ps Party-list representative also added that the lotto draw should be safeguarded to protect the “dreams and hopes” of Filipinos who frequent lotto draws.

“We also have to safeguard the hopes and dreams of millions of Filipinos that patronize the lotto draws every day,” Libanan said.

Highly unusual

OCTA Research fellow and mathematician Guido David said in an interview with CNN Philippines that the occurrence that 433 individuals win in a single lotto draw is “highly unusual.”

Guido added in a separate tweet that the probability of 433 individuals winning the 6/55 lotto draw is “1 out of 1 followed by 1224 zeros.”

Guido explained the incomprehensible number in the interview.

“1,000 has three zeros, 1 million has six zeros, 1 billion has nine zeros, 1 trillion has 12 zeros, but we are talking about one thousand zeros. That’s a very large number,” David said.

David also said that there are more molecules in a universe than the odds of 433 individuals winning the 6/55 lotto draw.

David also expounded more on the magnitude of the numbers in the same tweet.

“The age of the universe is 4.3e17 seconds (17 zeros). However, the winning combination, divisible by 9, could mean more people bet on it,” David said.

PCSO defended the results of their 6/55 draw, saying that the event was a “natural occurrence.”

Moreover, PCSO said that it is normal for different individuals to bet on the same set of numbers for the draw.

433 individuals won PCSO’s 6/55 PHP236 million Grand Lotto jackpot.

Each winner will bag PHP545,245.24, which is still subject to a 20 percent final tax.

Moreover, the winning combination of the 6/55 draw also adds to speculations as the arithmetic progression of the winning numbers consists of multiples of nine.

The winning combination is 9-18-27-36-45-54.

The odd series of occurrences with a low chance of happening but somehow transpired drew question marks from netizens and surprised mathematicians and experts alike. (GFB)