This is a story about a couple who said that they have won the lotto jackpot.
The only problem was, they have the wrong draw date.
This is a lesson to be learned for lotto bettors who just pay the lotto attendant and never check there lotto tickets draw date.
Thanks to Leila Salaverria for this story.
MANILA, Philippines--A couple lost their bid to claim more than P89 million from the Philippine Charity Sweepstakes Office after the Court of Appeals dismissed their petition to overturn a lower court ruling against them.
In dismissing the appeal of Ernesto and Marcelina Alburo, the appellate court said they used the wrong legal remedy since they should have questioned the Quezon City regional trial court's decision in a different petition and not an ordinary appeal.
The Quezon City RTC dismissed the Alburos' civil case to compel the PCSO to pay them the P89.2-million lotto grand prize, plus a P20,000 consolation prize, from the November 6, 1999 draw which they said they won. The RTC said there was lack of evidence to back up the couple's claim.
The Alburos claimed that they won the November 6 grand prize and that they placed their bets on the morning of that day, but that there had been a printing error in their tickets, which showed that they made their bets in the morning of November 7, 1999 for the November 9, 1999 draw.
They placed the bets at an outlet at the corner of IBP Road and Commonwealth Avenue.
But the Quezon City RTC ruled that their tickets clearly showed they placed their bets on November 7 and hence did not qualify for the November 6 draw. The Alburos then elevated the matter to the Court of Appeals
According to the appellate court, the couple raised issues of law against the Quezon City RTC, in particular questioning its acceptance of PCSO's evidence even if these had not been formally offered, thus violating the rules of court, and for violating the Constitution for for failing to state the legal basis for dismissing their motion for reconsideration.
Since there were no questions of fact, the couple's remedy of filing an ordinary appeal was the wrong mode, and they should instead have filed a petition for certiorari, said the Court of Appeals.
"Clearly, the appeal having been improperly brought before the Court of Appeals, the same should be dismissed outright," it said in a September 7 decision.
The Alburos violated the rules of court because their appeal did not contain a statement of facts, according to the appellate court. The appellate court described the right to appeal as a statutory right and those who wished to use it should follow the rules.
"Verily, the rules of procedure are tools designed to promote efficiency and orderliness, as well as, to facilitate attainment of justice, such that strict adherence thereto is required... Utter disregard of the rules cannot be rationalized by harking on the policy of liberal construction," it said.
Named respondents in the petition are the PCSO represented by Cecilia Muñoz-Palma, several of its officers and directors, the Benjamin Quirino Lotto Outlet and Lucia Villareno.
