Ten or 2.33 percent of the 433 lotto bettors who won the 6/55 Grand Lotto jackpot prize on Oct. 1 were from Iloilo, data from the Philippine Charity Sweepstakes Office (PCSO) showed.

The winners guessed the combination of 09-45-36-27-18-54, which carried a prize of P236,091,188. Each of them will take home P545,245.

There were also 3 winners each Aklan and Negros Occidental and one winner each in Antique and Capiz.

Most or 151 winners were from Metro Manila, 34 from Cavite, 22 from Rizal, 21 each from Bulacan, and Laguna, 14 each from Cebu and Batangas, 13 from pampanga, 11 from Pangasinan, 11 Benguet, and the rest scattered across the country.

Meanwhile, 331 bettors won the second prize worth P100,000 for picking five of the six winning numbers.

In a press conference on Sunday, Oct. 2, PCSO general manager Mel Robles said

the big number of winners was due to the popularity of the number 9 and the consistent placing of bets on this figure’s multiples.

“We have found nothing wrong, in fact, it’s a natural occurrence that many favor a certain number that wins,” he told reporters.

Last July 9, a lone bettor from Iloilo City won P401,186,804.80 in a Grand Lotto 6/55 draw, the highest prize given this year so far.IMT