Small bets, big wins: Life lessons from Pepito Manaloto

Question: What excites our lawmakers more than passing the 2010 national budget?

Answer: Betting on the lotto and hoping to become millions of pesos richer.

As of this writing, the P553 million pot money is still up for grabs, giving everyone a fair chance of winning the highest jackpot in the Philippine Charity Sweepstakes Office’s (PCSO) history. Despite the odds of winning (try last draw's one in 28.9 million with only one-fourth of that being bet on), most of us just couldn’t care less about the statistics. Hey, there’s still the “one,” and we hope against hope that faith would smile kindly on us… just this once.

Just like the government employee from Naic, Cavite who persistently bet on the same combination year after year for the past 10 years. Her persistence rewarded her with a whopping P152 million. However, it takes more than just perseverance to win in the lotto; it requires every bit of luck from the rabbit’s foot to the four-leaf clover to the horseshoe, and, as this winner would likely add, lots of prayers.

The jackpot is in the bag for the lucky winner but what follows after is an entirely different story. Media highlights the big win, but there is little documentation of what happened to the lives of the winners. Are the winners (government employee, construction worker, market vendor, and even a jobless woman), emotionally ready to handle the stress of being a multi-millionaire overnight?

Prior to the big win, they are probably like most of us who worry about money, and daily expenses. When they win, all of a sudden, they are confronted with a different problem, albeit as they’ll say, a good one: How are they going to spend their winnings, which would be enough to fund their wildest dreams?

Take the case of Christian Tongol. Six years ago, he won the lotto. His prize: P82 million. His life dramatically changed overnight. The drama could have been based on a telenovela script but this one’s for real. With his background and lifestyle, that amount could have potentially lasted him a lifetime, his children and even his grandchildren.

Today he confesses there are times he struggles to keep up with his obligations.

What happened? After buying six properties, three luxury cars, investing in various business ventures, funding the construction of a local church and basketball court, and giving money to whoever asked for it, much of his prize money is gone. It didn’t help he had an accident and that his father, his father-in-law and brother were hospitalized for long periods before passing away. Now all he has left is a house, a motorcycle and a fish pond for his business.

He is not alone. Sometime last year, Rated K featured another lotto winner who ended up broke after 10 years.

They and other of the rags-to-richest-to-rags winners all had one thing in common: they were not emotionally equipped to handle such a big amount. It proved too much for them to handle.

Second, they thought the winnings were unlimited. And since the money was not acquired through hard work (betting the same combination for 10 years cannot be considered hard work), they saw little regard for it. In contrast, people who amass the same amount through hard work would probably know its value more. It was literally, easy come, easy go.

Then again, they did not have the services of a wealth manager or a financial advisor, unlike the fictional character Pepito Manaloto, played by Michael V. For the uninitiated, Pepito Manaloto is a jeepney driver who won P700 million in the national lottery. Maricar (played by Carmina Villaroel) is his wealth manager who helps him adjust and adapt to his new life.

People who invest in several ventures without proper training and knowledge usually end up losing everything. Everyone has an opinion or two on how to invest money. A wealth manager, though, would usually give a simple tip, “If you don’t know what do with your money, other people would so you’re better off putting it in the bank.”

Assuming an interest rate of five percent, even half of Tongol’s P81 million could have provided him and his family an annual passive income of P2 million. Not a bad figure for someone who peddled wares as a livelihood.

If there’s anything good to come out from their stories, it’s that future lotto winners—the future P553 million winner—could learn from their follies. They can set up trust funds for their children; consult a wealth manager on growing their money; attend seminars on business management; hire a financial advisor and lawyer for estate planning; buy medical and life insurance plans; and all these should be done while they still have money.

Or they can just watch and learn from Pepito Manaloto on their 72-inch LED TV in their P100-million mansion.

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