A Cautionary Tale: From Rags to Riches to Rags Story of a Lotto Winner

Do you always dream about having millions in your bank account? What would you do if you just wake up one day and your dream comes true?

In Basey, Samar, a man once dreamed of having a good life for him and his family. When typhoon Yolanda reduced the Samar and Leyte area into rubble, instead of feeling devastated, Jack Morales, a construction worker saw a ray of hope.

The typhoon left such great damage that soon after the dust has settled, so many housing and rehabilitation projects were started. To him, it was a good chance to find a livelihood despite the fact that he was only earning P250. While work seems steady, he knows that his meager income will not suffice as his three-year-old daughter is growing up. Attracted to the idea of “easy money,” he started gambling.

Luck was on his side and he would often win amounts from P15, 000 to P30, 000. To anyone who barely has anything, these amounts would be like winning the jackpot, especially that he only needed to shell out P50 and P100.

He got really lucky on the eve of his birthday in 2016 because he won again but this time, he hit the jackpot amounting to P1.2 million. With his luck and the money he had on his side, he decided to resign from his job.

To put his money to good use, he set aside P200,000 for his child’s education. He allotted P800,000 on a construction business, P190,000 for savings, and P10,000 for home improvement. Everything seems to look perfect.

However, as most Filipinos are guilty of letting “easy money” loose, he held drinking sprees and parties almost daily. A lot of people also came to him and asked for “balato.” He realized too late that the P190, 000 he wanted to keep as savings was already gone. His home remains a shanty as the P10,000 he wanted to use to fix it also went to his fair-weather friends. Even more heartbreaking is that the money he intended to use for his daughter’s education also disappeared like thin air.

In what seemed like fate’s harsh punishment, the money he invested also disappeared as the business went bankrupt.

He was left with nothing but a P600,000 debt. He was a millionaire but only for three short months. Jason became depressed because of the situation.

However, not everything was taken away from him. While all his so-called friends left when he had nothing in his pocket, his family stayed by his side.

His dream that became a reality made him realize that it is always good to save for the rainy days and that if there is anything more important than money, it is having people who love him.