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"The Zamcelco raffle tickets are given free to member-consumers who pay their power bills on or before the expiry dates".

Thus said Zamboanga City Electric Cooperative (Zamcelco) General Manager Reinerio Ramos in view of mounting queries and comments from member-consumers on the quarterly raffles.

In a press statement, Ramos clarified that for every electric bill a consumer pays on or before the expiry date, a free raffle ticket is automatically generated in the computer for the said consumer. At the bottom left corner of the official receipt, a notice is printed "With RAFFLE".

"Hence, within the quarter or 3-month period, a prompt payor is entitled to three free raffle tickets that will be drawn on the first Saturday following the end of the quarter", Ramos added.

The raffle tickets are subjected to a randomized pick by the computer on the date of the draw under the supervision of a representative from the Department of Trade and Industry (DTI).

There are sixty-three (63) winners in all- one 1St prize of P3,500.00; one 2nd prize of P2,500.00; one 3rd prize of P2,000.00; and sixty (60) consolation prizes of P200.00 each.

The winners are notified thru their respective billing statements with the message, "*Raffle Winner* Claim prize at Main Office (ISD Dept)". This notice remains in the billing statements until the consumer claims his/her prize. Also, as the consumer goes to pay the bill, an alert message is flashed on the teller's computer that the said account number is among the lucky picks that won a prize.

"However, unclaimed prizes are credited to the rightful winner by crediting the amount to the consumer's upcoming bill before the next quarterly raffle draw as provided for under Policy No. 8-9 series 2000", Ramos further said.

Consumers whose unclaimed prizes are credited in their coming bills are also being notified in their billing statements, e.g. "Unclaimed Raffle:-200.00" for the consolation prize. This amount is deducted from the total amount of the coming new bill.

"We advise our member-consumer to come to the office should they have further clarifications needed in this regard", Ramos appealed.