Several winners of the October 1 6/55 Grand Lotto jackpot trooped to the Philippine Charity Sweepstakes Office (PCSO) to claim their cash prizes Monday.

While they didn't become millionaires, they are still thankful.

"Lucas", a retired police officwe turned farmer from Nueva Vizcaya, traveled for 8 hours to claim his prize.

"Masayang masaya po ako nung nalaman ko na nanalo. Palit palit ako Sir pero pag tinatayaan ko yun, lucky 9, lucky 8, lucky 7 ganon ako tumaya, nagkataon naman na yung lucky 9, yun ang nanalo," he said.

"Sonia" also won the jackpot after 5 years of betting.

"Limang taon na ako tumataya sa lotto kasi gusto ko talaga manalo. Meron pa ako ibang tinatayaang number, minsan naglulucky pick, pero di yun nawawala sa mga tinatayaan ko, alaga ko talaga," she said.

Another winner, "Neneng", said it was her second time to try her chances on the same set of numbers.

"Yung una nung September 28, hindi kami nakakuha ng number, pangalawang beses October 1, wala akong hawak na card, sabi ko sa kasambahay, di ako makalabas malakas ulan, yan na lang ulit tayaan mo, salamat naman at pinagpala ako ng Panginoong Diyos," she said.

PCSO General Manager Melquiades Robles said they found no irregularity despite the controversial draw result.

"Nagulat din ako historically, 20 lang yan, so kami mismo nag-imbestiga, we did our own queries, we found out na kaya maraming nanalo, marami talagang tumaya non. In fact, nakita nyo naman, ang winners nanjan na sila, these are real people. Next we checked, saan ba mga nanalo, they're spread all over the Philippines," Robles told ABS-CBN News.

UP Statistics Professor Peter Julian Cayton said more bettors choose numbers with a pattern, in this case, in multiples of 9, resulting in a large number of winners.

He said humans do not usually think of random numbers when placing bets. They think in patterns they can easily recall.

The PCSO said all investigations are welcome, including one from the Senate.

• Winners of Oct. 1 6/55 Grand Lotto jackpot start claiming prize
• Senators call for investigation into 'suspicious' Grand Lotto results

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