After getting a list of names, a Senate panel is set to review the jackpot winners of the past Philippine Charity Sweepstakes Office (PCSO) lotto draws namely the 6/42, 6/45, 6/49, 6/55, and 6/58 draws.

During the continuation of the Senate hearing of the Committee on Games and Amusement presided by Sen. Raffy Tulfo on Feb. 1, Thursday, Atty. Lyssa Grace Pagano, Chief of Staff, Office of the General Manager of PCSO submitted the names of lotto winners and the games they won from July 1 to Jan. 30, 2024.

"Regarding the names of the lotto winners and the games they won it's in a sealed envelope and I will turn it over to the Committee because this involves already the data of the winners," she said.

Tulfo vowed to protect the names and consider them as confidential.

"Ang mangyayari po pagbabanggain natin ilang games ang tinamaan for example sa buwan ng September, at ilang tao ang tumama, at magkano ang binayad na taxes at ibabangga natin yan sa record ng PCSO (What will happen is we will compare the draws won for example for the month of September, how many people won the jackpot that time, and how much tax was paid and we will compared that to PCSO's record)," Tulfo said.

Atty. Ralbert John Neil Tibayan of the Legal and Legislative Division of the Bureau of Internal Revenue (BIR) said that they will also come up with a report to show the accuracy of the records.

Tulfo also raised in the hearing several measures that would help improve the integrity of the games, including changing the assigned person who has access to the root of the lotto system and the immediate declaration of a winner in every lotto draw, if there is any.

At present, the PCSO general manager and assistant general manager hold the root access to the system. Tulfo suggested that the access be limited to PCSO Chairman Junie Cua and General Manager Melquiades Robles.

Tulfo also pointed out in a previous hearing that increasing the jackpot prize from the prize fund reserve raised doubts among the bettors.

In can be recalled in the previous hearing that PCSO General Manager Melquiades Robles admitted that last December, the PCSO increased the jackpot money of all lotto games. PCSO added 100 million each on 6/42 and 6/45 while half a billion each on 6/49, 6/55, and 6/58 from their prize fund reserve.