MANILA — Sen. Raffy Tulfo on Tuesday said he would investigate the legitimacy of jackpot winners in the lotto games of the Philippine Charity Sweepstakes Office (PCSO), as the Senate resumes its inquiry into the agency this week.

In a release, Tulfo noted that a recent P43-million lotto jackpot winner’s edited viral photo "raised doubts and suspicions from the public."

PCSO General Manager Melquiades Robles has said that the photo was heavily altered to protect the bettor’s identity.

In a recent Senate hearing he presided over, Tulfo asked for the names of the jackpot winners in a closed-door executive session, saying he would tap investigators to look into their identities.

He raised concerns that the winners were not legitimate bettors.

In a January 19 release, PCSO said that it had "managed to produce two multi-millionaires in succession resulting in the charity body giving away some P1.4-B in prizes in just two days."

• PCSO says lotto winner's viral photo was edited

INCREASING JACKPOT PRIZE

Tulfo added that he would also look into prohibiting the PCSO from increasing jackpot money for its lotto games through the prize fund reserve.

He cited as an example Robles' admission that the jackpot money of all PCSO lotto games got bigger in December.

The senator said that the PCSO added P100 million each on 6/42 and 6/45, while half a billion pesos was added each on 6/49, 6/55, and 6/58 from their prize fund reserve.

As a result, he stressed that a total of P1.7 billion had been transferred from the prize fund reserve to jackpot money for the said lottery games.

"Ang P1.7 billion ay savings na sana ito ng PCSO na puwede nang gamitin para sa mga charity project nila," Tulfo said, adding that the scheme was "suspicious."

At the Senate hearing, Robles confirmed that P1.7 billion in prizes were won in one month. He however said the PCSO is increasing the jackpot prizes to make the draws more exciting.