Philippine Charity Sweepstakes Office (PCSO) General Manager Melquiades Robles confirmed on Thursday, January 18 that the viral photo of the bettor from San Jose Del Monte, Bulacan who bagged the P43-million Lotto 6/42 jackpot was indeed edited.
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The photo of the bettor receiving her winnings quickly went viral and has so far fetched more than 50,000 shares on Facebook. Netizens criticized the photo for its poor editing.
During the hearing of the Senate Committee on Ways and Means presided by Sen. Raffy Tulfo, Robles stated that this was for the protection of the winner's identity.
"Mayroon pong nagreklamo sa amin one time, we covered the face, yung damit naman po ay nakilala. Nagreklamo siya, sana naman po wag naman ipakita po yung damit (Someone complained to us one time, we covered the face but the winner was recognized because of the clothing. The winner complained and asked not to show the clothes)," he explained.
"So yan po ang reason niyan (So that's the reason for that) and I agree it’s a very poor editing pero (but) the objective is to conceal the clothing na maidentify sa kanya (that would identify the person)," he added.
When asked by Tulfo why they had to alter the clothes, Robles said that there was a time when neighbors were able to identify the winner who was wearing his or her favorite clothes at the time.
Nevertheless, Robles said that the person in the photo is real.
"If there's something we apologize for, it’s the poor editing, but it has served its purpose of concealing the identity," he said.
"We’re sorry we’re not very good at editing the clothes," he added.