The joy of giving
Today is Christmas Eve and at the stroke of midnight, it will be Christmas Day, the happiest day of the year as we celebrate the birth of our Lord Jesus Christ who came down from heaven to save mankind. The spirit of giving is what Christmas is about because giving means sharing and sharing means love. It’s the reason why we give presents, why there is a Santa Claus and why we come together as friends and family to remember that home is where the heart is.
Last Thursday, we gave out the prizes to 20 lucky winners of our annual
Philippine STAR sports Christmas Contest. My wife Menchu joined me in the awarding for the first time since we’ve run the contest in the last 20 years or so. I wanted her to experience the joy of giving to our readers, of saying thanks and of getting together in the spirit of Christmas. She was overwhelmed.
Our first prize winner Jose Quadra couldn’t be present because he’s at sea on an eight-month contract. He sent one entry by email and nailed it. His wife Bernadeth came to claim the prize with their 23-year-old son Vince. Quadra, 49, and Bernadeth, 48, are blessed with four children. Their youngest is 10. Vince is a fresh graduate from maritime school in Mariveles and will become a seaman like
his father. The family lives in Guagua, Pampanga. Four years ago, Bernadeth suffered a stroke and had to give up her job with the Phinma Group. She used to work out of Phinma’s office at Rockwell.
During the awarding, Quadra was on a vessel headed for Japan. His last port was in South Africa. Quadra will be back home in March. The first prize consisted of P50,000 cash and a balikbayan box full of gift items like a Nike pair of shoes, San Miguel Corp. bag of groceries, Hapee mouthwash and toothpaste, a pair of blue 14-ounce boxing gloves from the ALA Gym, Deli Chef personal blender from the PBA, T-shirts, basketball and many, many more.
Third prize winner Arnold Liwanag arrived about 30 minutes late as he came from Sta. Maria, Bulacan and the traffic stalled him. Liwanag, 39, is the production manager of Vibelle Manufacturing Corp. He was on the road from Bulacan for over three hours. Fourth prize winner Lyndeen Deloria, 44, is a three-time Christmas contest winner, having previously taken 11th and fourth prizes. He emailed his entry an hour before the deadline of 5 p.m. last Dec. 15.
Ninth prize winner Timothy Agduma, 33, was accompanied by his mother Thelma who was interested to visit The
STAR office as she’s the moderator of the Parañaque National High School organ Ang Dagitab. Parañaque National High has the biggest population of a secondary school in Asia with 12,000 from Grades 7 to 12. Eleventh prize winner John Noel Correos, 11, came with his father. He’s a Grade 6 student from Manresa. Correos sent in over 300 entries. Twelfth prize winner Danilo Animas, 45, flew in from Guimaras to receive his prize. Animas, a fire officer, sent in only one entry in his first time to join our contest. He said jokingly with his bag of prizes, he’ll likely be charged excess weight by AirAsia on his flight back home.
Thirteenth prize winner Yolanda Palomado took a four-hour bus ride from Sariaya, Quezon, to claim her loot. Palomado, 48, is an employee with the Sariaya Municipal Government. She said her husband has played pick-up games with now San Miguel Beer coach Leo Austria who is also from Sariaya. Fourteenth prize winner Ivan Jose, 37, arrived from Qatar where he works as an assistant warehouse manager last Dec. 15 and is on home leave until early next month. He drove in from Pulilan, Bulacan. Seventeenth prize winner Christopher Manuel, 39, couldn’t take a leave from work and was represented by his wife Luisa. The Manuels along with their son Al Christopher, sent in a total of more than 500 entries.
For the first time in our contest history, every winner was represented during the awarding at The STAR office. Most were first-time winners so it was a fresh experience for them to discover
The STAR office. Once more, we wish to thank our sponsors, donors and benefactors without whom we wouldn’t have been able to launch a successful contest and made a lot of families happy. Our cash donors were the Philippine Sports Commission through chairman Butch Ramirez with P50,000, Kia Picanto through PBA governor Bobby Rosales with P20,000, NLEX through PBA governor Rod Franco with P20,000, The Herma Group through CEO Hermie Esguerra with P15,000, GlobalPort through PBA governor Erick Arejola with P10,000 and the Games and Amusements Board through chairman Baham Mitra with P5,000. The first prize winner received P50,000, the second prize P20,000, the third prize P10,000 and the other 17 winners P2,000 each. The balance of P6,000 was used to cover expenses, like loot bags, transportation for pick-ups and whatever was left, was distributed to the staff that coordinated the contest.
Donations were also received from Lamoiyan Corp. (20 bags of toothpaste and mouthwash products), Phoenix Petroleum, Meralco, Purefoods, Under Armour, Planet Sports, The Philippine
STAR, Sonak Corp., Nike Philippines, ALA Boxing Gym, Peak, Philippine Paralympic Committee, Rain Or Shine, Philippine Tennis Academy, Chooks To Go, Green Bulb PR for Adidas, Larc and Asset, Samahang Basketbol Ng Pilipinas, Philippine Basketball Association, Alaska, PLDT, Metro Pacific, NLEX, San Miguel Corp., San Miguel Beer, Barangay Ginebra, Ever Bilena and Gatorade.
Congratulations to our winners and thank you to our donors for making us experience the joy of giving. Merry Christmas to all!