DUBAI: It will be a really, happy Christmas for 34-year-old expectant mother, Melody Curitana, an insurance company staff who will be celebrating her birthday on Dec. 27 because today she’s US$1 million richer.
Curitana, who’s two-year-old son will be having his birthday on the 30th, is one of two winners at the Dubai Duty Free (DDF) Millennium Millionaire raffle held this morning at Dubai International Airport on the occasion of DDF’s 36th anniversary.
Interviewed a few hours after the raffle, Curitana told The Filipino Times that she still was shaking and in disbelief.
“Hindi pa rin ako makapaniwala. Tinawagan ako kanina. Akala ko scam,” said Curitana, whose husband also works at an insurance company in Dubai.
“Sobrang grateful. Sobrang pasasalamat. Prayer ko po ito. Sobrang blessed,” she said.
Curitana, who hails from Casiguran and has been in Dubai for four years, said she did not tell her husband, who is from Tacloban, that she bought a ticket for the draw which cost Dh1,000.
“Hindi ko sinabi sa asawa ko. Baka pagalitan ako,” she said. Ticket number was 1875 bought on Dec. 1, 2019, according to DDF.
“Nag-try lang po ako. Baka lang tumama kahit mahal,” Curitana said.
For good na ba?
Asked if they will finally go home for good, considering the life-changing prize, which is the equivalent of Php50.64 million, Curitana said: “Hindi pa. May ibang plans pa kami.”
Those plans, she said, include helping her family put up a business, invest in condos and farmlands and clear out their debts.
“Tutulungan ko ang family ko na magtayo ng business. Ako lang kasi ang may trabaho sa magkakapatid. Fulltime housewives yung dalawa kong kapatid na babae at yung tatlong lalaki naman ay walang regular jobs,” Curitana said.
She said her husband wouldn’t mind: “Sobrang supportive ang asawa ko pagdating sa pagtulong sa family ko.”
No big celebration for this lucky winner who said she’d also rather have her child be covered by insurance and, of course, real property.
“Kasi wala rin kaming sariling bahay sa Pilipinas. Bibili din kami ng lupa para gawing taniman. Mabubuhay ka na sa ganuon,” Curitana said.
What seemed to really make her happy is that they can finally finished off their loans, some of which was acquired when she delivered her first baby.
Some 38 other lucky people won cash prizes totaling Dh75, 000.
Photo caption: Dubai Duty Free Executive Vice Chairman and CEO Coln McLoughlin witnessing the raffle draw. (Jojo Dass)
