The Philippine Charity Sweepstakes Office is launching a new lottery game that will have a base prize of P1 billion in 2024, PCSO GM Mel Robles said Wednesday.

"We will pattern it after the Powerball sa US. This is a different jackpot game," Robles said in a TeleRadyo Serbisyo interview. Twenty percent of the prize money will go to taxes.

The PCSO earlier increased the minimum jackpot prize for the Grand Lotto 6/55 and Ultra Lotto 5/58 games to P500 million as part of the agency’s ‘Handog Pakabog’ Christmas program.

A lucky bettor from Quezon City, meanwhile, is going to have a very merry Christmas indeed after winning the P311 million 6/49 Super Lotto jackpot Tuesday night.

"Kagabi lang tumama. The ticket was bought somewhere in Quezon City," Robles said.

He said the jackpot snowballed from P89 million in October to over P300 million this week.

The PCSO recently launched its online lottery system or E-lotto, a web-based lottery system open to Filipinos 18 years old and above, including those residing abroad.

Robles said bettors will need to have a Philippine government-issued ID, a Philippine SIM number and an e-wallet.