ANGONO, RIZAL – For Rolando, a seaman whose life is spent on the high seas, buying a Scratchit ticket is a rare treat for himself. He doesn’t really expect to win anything. In fact, he doesn’t even know of someone who knows someone who had won money from these types of luck draws.
Nonetheless, buying Scratchit tickets has already been embedded into his system. So, he did not even think much of it when he made a routine stop at SM Angono on Aug. 7, 2025.
“To those who doubt, I am proof that it is not a scam. The prize is real. It can happen to anyone.”
The moment of revelation was one of pure, stunned disbelief. Standing near the outlet, he scratched the surface layer and his heart raced as the symbols aligned to reveal the P200,000 prize. He checked the ticket again and showed it to the attendant who confirmed the win.
“I’m not a regular buyer,” he confessed. “I only buy one when I pass by an outlet and I have some extra time. I never expected that day would change everything.”
Rolando, a native of the artistic town of Angono known for its vibrant murals and fiestas, embodies the quiet, hardworking spirit of overseas Filipino workers. The relief and joy of winning the prize money are directly tied to the most immediate and pressing concern for many families: education.
The significant windfall instantly erased his short-term financial anxiety. “The first thing on my mind was my children’s tuition fees,” dela Cruz shared.
His win serves as tangible proof that debunks the skepticism that sometimes surrounds instant lottery games. In an age of online scams and too-good-to-be-true stories, Rolando stands as a breathing testimony to Scratchit’s legitimacy. “To those who doubt, I am proof that it is not a scam,” he states emphatically. “The prize is real. It can happen to anyone.” “Bumili din kayo, baka kayo na ang susunod na mananalo (You should buy a ticket too, you might be the next winner),” he advised.
