MANILA - AN ILLITERATE, slum-dwelling Philippine carpenter who was too poor to send his six children to school became an instant millionaire on Thursday with the country's second biggest-ever lottery win.
The 60-year-old collected a 356.5-million-peso (S$10.2-million-dollar) cheque from a single 20-peso ticket, which was all he could afford, said an aide to Philippine Charity Sweepstakes Office general manager Jose Ferdinand Roxas.
'He plans to buy a house because he and his family had never owned a proper home all their lives,' said the Roxas aide, who declined to be identified.
Mr Roxas, who handed over the cheque on Thursday on behalf of the state lottery agency, could not be reached for comment.
The staff member told AFP the unnamed man's winnings were the second biggest ever for the state lottery, a popular pastime in a country where one in four people live on a dollar a day or less.
The aide said the latest winner, who under lottery rules is never identified for security reasons, beat odds of one in 29 million on a six-number combination based on his and his wife's birthdays and their wedding date. -- AFP
