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Las Vegas Night raffle winners claim their checks from Rotary
From left, Rotary Club of Saipan president Greg Borja, third grand prize winner Marmy Peter, grand prize winner Ramonito Militante, fourth grand prize winner Leonora Mabutas, second grand prize winner Richard Asuncion, club president-elect Marcia Ayuyu, club member Sean Ficke, and club vice president Brian Clayton pose for a photo Tuesday. (Erwin Encinares)
His grand prize win at the2019 Rotary Club of Saipan’s Las Vegas Night couldn’t have come at a better time.
Ramonito Militante, 75, who had a choice between $10,000 cash and a 2019 Mitsubishi Mirage car as the prize last Saturday, opted to go for the cash prize, saying he will use it for his medical expenses.
The second prize winner, on the other hand, wants to save his winnings.
Militante told Saipan Tribune Tuesday during the Rotary Club of Saipan meeting at the Hyatt Regency Saipan—when the winners were presented with their checks—that the money would go to his medical expenses.
“I am happy that God gave me this money because this money will be going to my medicine,” he said, adding that he had hypertension, diabetes, and prostate enlargement.
Militante, who hails from the province of Antique in the Philippines., has been on Saipan for over six years now.
The second prize winner, 42-year-old Richard Asuncion, who won $3,000, was initially mistakenly told by his friends last Saturday night that he had won the grand prize.
“I later found out I got the second grand prize,” he said. “I still feel blessed to have won.”
Asuncion wishes to set the money aside for now. “Every year I buy tickets to support the event. Last year I got four booklets, but this year I only bought one ticket and got lucky,” he said.
Marmy Peter won the third grand prize of $2,000 while Leonora Mabutas won $1,000 for the fourth grand prize.
The Rotary Club of Saipan printed about $50,000 worth of tickets. Blub president Greg Borja said that most of the tickets were sold.
“…I think we sold the most tickets this year,” said Borja, compared to the last three Las Vegas Nights. “Last year we raised about $23,000 net” but with fewer tickets sold.
“I am hoping we are a little bit higher than that this year, especially with the introduction of the new table games, including our Texas Hold ’Em poker tournament and the three-card poker table,” he said.
