A civil engineer working as a quality surveyor in a Sharjah construction company was this year’s luckiest guy, having bagged the grand prize at the Al Ansari Exchange Rewards Millionaire Raffle Draw.
Al Dizon Banzil was still trembling with excitement an hour after he was announced winner of Dh1 million.
“Ako lang ang naniniwala sa sarili ko kahit noon pa na mananalo rin ako,” Banzil told The Filipino Times in an exclusive interview.
“Malakas ang kutob ko na ito na iyong araw na iyon. Sabi ko nga, ‘Kung hindi ako mananalo ngayon, ano pa yung next chance ko?’ Binigyan na ako ng Diyos ng chance. At alam ko na ibibigay na nya ngayon yun chance na iyon,” he added.
Banzil who left his wife and 11-year-old daughter in their province in Pampanga,11 years ago to work in the UAE, vowed he will spend his money wisely as he knows well the value of every fils being an OFW.
“Alam mo yung kailangan mong isakripisyo para kumita ng pera. Eleven years akong nagsasakripisyo para kumita ng pera. Kaya nga nasabi kong kaya kong ingatan tong pera ito kasi alam mong gaano kahirap kumita ng pera,” he said.
Banzil added he has been Al Ansari Exchange’s loyal customer for the past 11 years. He said he believes the exchange center was providence’s instrument in changing his life for the better.
He said: “Isa ako sa mga loyal client from the start ng Al Ansari. Every time na may promo sila, every coupon na nakukuha ko, bago ko hinuhulog sa drop box ay ipinagdarasal ko lahat. Nagpapasamat ako na naging instrument sila ni Lord para ibigay sa akin ito.”
Banzil said he will go home first for a vacation break to the Philippines to see his family and decide later whether he will stay there for good and put-up his own business or come back to the UAE and continue working for a few more years.
There were a total of 4.5 million entries from Al Ansari customers of different nationalities, since the promo started in June, who were given forms after remitting money.
The 43-year-old civil engineer said he was already very tensed even before he arrived at the raffle venue as he had a strong feeling that he will emerge as the big winner.
Delighted
Rashid Ali Al Ansari, general manager of Al Ansari Exchange said, he is delighted that aside from the Philippines, this year’s draw has winners from the different parts of the world – Bangladesh, Egypt, India, Pakistan, Saudi Arabia, UAE, and Zimbabwe.
“We’re always happy to see a customer win and that we have participated into changing that person’s life. I was hoping for diversification in our winners. This time, for the first time ever, Al Ansari Exchange is celebrating a millionaire from the Philippines, and we are very excited about that,” he said.
The management at Al Ansari Exchange will temporarily provide Banzil security escorts for protection, while he decides what he will do with his cash prize.
“We want to make sure that the customers are well aware. This is what we’ve done with the previous millionaires. I sit with them personally for 30 minutes after the draw. Because once you get that money, you attract a lot of attention. And we want to make sure that he is physically safe and mentally prepared to invest that money for him not to lose it, because you don’t want that the money going to waste,” said Al Ansari.
Another winner
The Grand Raffle Draw also produced another Filipino winner, Silvia Valdez, a household service worker, was the lucky winner of a brand new Nissan Patrol.
The mother-of-four who has been working in the UAE for 10 years said she plans to sell the car and use the money to fix their house back home, as well, put up a small rice trading business. She will still continue working as an OFW, she said.
The other eight winners went home with Dh10,000 cash each.
The raffle draw was held at the Metropolitan Hotel, on August 23. Banzil was one the 10 lucky entries picked to qualify for the grand raffle draw, during a pre-draw on August 20. (By Gelin Castro)
