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MANILA — The Supreme Court has ordered the Philippine Charity Sweepstakes Office to pay a man whose partially burned Lotto ticket won P12.391 million nearly a decade ago.

On October 2, 2014, Antonio Mendoza placed bets for the Lotto 6/42 draw and one of his three “lucky pick” combinations won. His winning ticket was crumpled by his daughter who ironed it in an attempt to save it.

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“The PCSO rules itself reveals that the Lotto 6/42 does not contemplate a pre-determined winning ticket and so its presentation in a pristine state must not be the sole determinant for the payment of the prize,” the Supreme Court said in a decision promulgated on March 13, 2023.

The SC also said that its ruling in Pepsi-Cola Products Philippines vs Pagdanganan in the 1992 “Number Fever” contest and other related cases were not applicable to Mendoza's case.

“In the Number Fever cases, the claimants were not entitled to the jackpot prize simply because the soft drink crowns that they held were not the pre-determined winning crowns,” the court said in the decision penned by Associate Justice Jhosep Lopez.

The SC also ordered the PCSO to pay legal interest of 6 percent per annum from the date of finality of the decision.