MANILA — Two senators on Sunday called for an investigation into Saturday's 6/55 Grand Lotto results, where 433 winners won the jackpot prize of more than P236 million.

In a statement, Sen. Koko Pimentel said he is considering filing a resolution to "audit and investigate" the gaming activities of the Philippine Charity Sweepstakes Office (PCSO).

• 433 winners to split P236M 6/55 Grand Lotto jackpot

This, he said, is to ensure the agency's integrity and "protect millions of Filipino bettors," following Saturday's results which he called "strange and unusual."

“Katakataka iyong result na yan. Iyong 433 ang mananalo, supposed to be ang chances mo diyan is 1 in how many millions. So ibig sabihin, ganun kahirap dapat tamaan iyan and then to say na 433 ang tumama, there is something suspicious,” Pimentel said.

“Talagang marami po ang nagtaka, na medyo nagulat because statistically speaking, this is a very rare event. Let us take this opportunity to investigate so that ang purpose natin is to ensure the integrity of our lotto games,” he added.

He also stressed the need to look into the entire lottery system, especially as its games are authorized by the government.

"Therefore, we need to maintain and protect the integrity of these gambling games that we have authorized,” he said.

For her part, Sen. Risa Hontiveros said she supports Pimentel's move to investigate the "extraordinary" Grand Lotto results.

"We just want to rule out any doubts in the public mind that the results have been manipulated," Hontiveros said in a separate statement.

"While we recognize that people tend to bet in patterns, we also want to make sure the system is secure, free from glitches, and trustworthy," she added.

'MARAMING NAG-AALAGA'

But in a press conference on Sunday, PCSO vice chairperson and general manager Melquiades Robles said that Saturday's results only showed Filipinos' betting behaviors, particularly the tendency to keep select numbers.

"Kaya maraming nanalo, kasi ang daming nag-aalaga [ng numero]," Robles told reporters.

He also said that they saw a "betting pattern" before Saturday's results, and that there were allegedly "a lot of bettors" to the winning combination: 9-18-27-36-45-54.

"It's the first time in a game of chance," Robles said.

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