A 41-YEAR-OLD Filipino who works two jobs and lives in a boarding house in Montreal, Canada became an instant billionaire last November 9 after he won $32,707,357 Canadian dollars, or a whopping P1.2 billion pesos at yesterday’s prices.
Patrick Estacio, who migrated to Canada only two years ago, told officials of Loto-Québec that he thought he won only CAD32,000 when he went to the lottery’s office in Montreal on November 10.
“From what I see, it’s only 32,700 something. I give the ticket to the lady in the counter. Her reaction is not to 32,700 something… When I learned that I had won $32.7 million, I burst into tears of joy,” he said.
“I work two jobs to make ends meet. I still haven’t taken it all in, but my life will certainly never be the same. I want to stay humble, simple, but I am going to take advantage of my good luck. I’ll probably buy a house or a condo. For the rest, we’ll see. I don’t know. I’m going to let the dust settle,” he told lottery officials.