More donations for Christmas Contest

It’ll be a very merry holiday season for 30 winners of our Christmas Contest as more donations are coming in to add to the bonanza of prizes we’re giving out during our awarding get-together at 10 a.m. this Sunday outside Starbucks at Molito Alabang.

So far, we’ve raised P211,000 for our contest and first prize winner Ariel Clarito of Pinaglabanan, San Juan, will take home P50,000 of the total. Our donors are: PLDT/ABAP P50,000, Bounty Agro Ventures P50,000, Gymnastics Association of the Philippines P21,000, Sen. Sonny Angara P20,000, Columbian Dyip P20,000, Jean Henri Lhuillier P20,000, NorthPort P10,000, Rommie Chan P10,000, Games and Amusements Board P5,000 and ALA Boxing P5,000. We’re hoping to raise at least P100,000 more.

Our product donations are: Alaska (10 caps, 10 basketballs), Blackwater (Calcident whitening toothpaste with toothbrush, Deo Splash, Deo soap), Robinson’s Retail Holdings (six 16-inch stand fans, 12 water bottles), Rommie Chan (Vita Coco, bags of coconut oil, coconut milk, coconut cream, coconut powder), Metro Pacific and Peak (basketball jersey sets, sandals, basketball slings). More product donations are on the way from San Miguel Corp., NLEX, Meralco, Rain or Shine, SBP, Hapee Toothpaste, Nike, Planet Sports and PBA, among others.

Entries to our contest came from all over the country and even from abroad. Only the entries that had correct answers to three questions and an insightful essay of no more than three sentences on “The Significance of Hosting the SEA Games” were considered for a prize.

The correct answers are: 1. Who were at least three NBA veterans in roster of the PBA Governors Cup this season? (choices were K. J. McDaniels, Alonzo Gee, Manny Harris, John Holland). 2. Who was the last Filipino boxer to win an Olympic medal and in what year? (Onyok Velasco took the silver in 1996). 3. What were the years when the Philippines hosted the SEA Games, including this year? (1981, 1991, 2005, 2019).

Here is Clarito’s essay: “At a time when the country has been beset by social media bickering borne out of political partisanship and some of our NSAs have also been plagued by in-fighting, the 2019 SEA Games became the catalyst to compel combatants to voluntarily call for cease, albeit temporarily, and set aside conflicts and disagreements. History has shown that sports can be a galvanizing tool and this was evident during the course of the SEA Games when we saw our people come together as one nation as Filipinos called out leaders to ensure our hosting was world-class, rallied behind our athletes whether in victory or defeat and even cheered for visiting countries like Timor Leste. Now that we have successfully staged the biennial meet and capped it off by winning the overall championship, we can only hope that these achievements will spur our people to sustain not only the gains we made from the SEA Games but more importantly, the unity we displayed as a country and as a people so that we will truly live out the essence of Winning As One.”

Clarito, 43, is sales services manager at Foodcrafters Inc. and contributing writer for Fox Sports Asia. The 29 other winners are John Paul Tanyag of Sucat, Muntinlupa, Sharon Agduma Wettlaufer of Geneva, Switzerland, Hilton Arevalo of Caloocan, Lyndeen Deloria of Batasan Hills, QC, Bob Eruel Chavez of Barangay Poblacion, Muntinlupa, Carlo Balderas of Parañaque, Leonor Fababeir of Kamuning, Nicholson Tee of Sampaloc, Teodoro Hernando Jr. of East Kamias, Ken Noble of Bacoor, Ohrelle Gutierrez of Lubao, Pampanga, Fernando Belo of Bacacay, Albay, Gulliver Banares of Biñan, Laguna, Luisa Pago of Malate, Connie Mejilia of San Miguel, Pasig, Gilbert Alegre of San Pedro, Laguna, Joe Louis Lahom of Makati, Ar-Jay Mayo of San Fernando, La Union, Romano Obmerga of Sto. Tomas, Batangas, Noel Balmes of Barangay La Paz, Makati, Michael Gumagay of Subic Freeport Zone, Rebecca del Rosario of Sampaloc, Philip John Borja of Laloma, QC, John Ventura of Tondo, Rafaelito Limjoco of Lian, Batangas, Antonio Valenzuela of Diliman, QC, Leonardo Aran of Binangonan, Rizal, Erica Santos of Obando, Bulacan and Ronchester Oloresisimo of Nagcarlan, Laguna.