SM, AFP win Belenismo sa Tarlac 2018
SM City Tarlac was recently hailed as the grand champion together with the Philippine Army during the 11th Belenismo sa Tarlac Awards Night held at Robinson’s Athletic Field.
SM City Tarlac’s entry to this year’s Belenismo showcases not only a display that pleases the eyes, but a centerpiece that refreshes one’s spirituality. Taking inspiration from the church—the house of God—the Belen sits on a backdrop of stained glass, reminiscent of the devotion we have as we submit in prayer before the Almighty. The multi-colored panels, 16 feet to 20 feet in height, refract light adding a whole new dimension to the display.
Sourced from discarded stained glass windows of different churches in Luzon, the colorful backdrop was carefully put together. Augmenting some panels and mending broken ones, the Belen made use of one of Tarlac’s main produce— sugar. The melted-thenhardened crystals resulted to faux glass panels.
The sinamay fabric—an indigenous material made from abaca—was used in the sacred characters’ clothes. The base of the platform on which the display sits upon was made of more than 3,000 recycled glass bottles, which reflect off the light from the stained glass panels.
The platform was wrapped with hundreds green flowers handcrafted from the collected 10,000 pieces of green plastic bottles through the Trash to Cash initiative of the mall. The Belen also displays four translations of the “Prayer before the Belen” in English, Filipino, Kapampangan, and Ilocano.
Guests of honor present during the awards night were DND Sec. Delfin Lorenzana, DOLE Sec Silvestre Bello III, DILG Sec Eduardo Año, DSWD Sec Rolando Joselito Bautista, DOE Sec Alfonso Cusi, CAB Sec Karlo Alexei Nograles, DAR Sec John Castriciones, NSA Sec Hermogenes Esperon, and Head of Tarlac Heritage Foundation Dra. Issa Cojuangco Suntay.
A total of 54 entries competed for this year’s Belenismo. Truly, this showcases not only the spirituality of Tarlaquenos but also their versatility and resourcefulness by using indigenous materials as well as recycled ones.
TMC Clark’s Christmas Outreach Program aimed to spring support to the lessprivileged brethren and show God’s love through the gift of giving and sharing. It was also an opportunity for the TMC Clark Family to partake in spreading kindness and compassion to them.
The program started off with a prayer, followed by the heart-warming remarks of TMC Clark Sales & Marketing Director Evelyn Yumul. Subsequently, one of the brethren from the aforesaid chosen community, Joe Smith, shared his God-given talent that has moved hearts and touched each one’s lives in the place.
Afterwards, TMC Clark employees gave each brother and sister gifts, consisting of relief goods, groceries, educational items, and other basic necessities they ought to have. Then, the community helpers/caregivers of the chosen charity were acknowledged for their compassionate and selfless heart for serving people with distinctive needs.
In conclusion, the outreach program was fruitful and successful through the collective efforts and benevolence of the different departments of TMC Clark, together with the earnest support of the Community Helpers of Munting Tahanan ng Nazareth.
More than the gifts that have been given and shared, seeing the smiles and joy to their faces is priceless and worth-reminiscing about. Intuitively, they have bestowed inspiration and realization to each TMC Clark employee—to always be grateful even for the little things.