PBA commissioner Willie Marcial and PBA marketing director Gelo Serrano had a big surprise for the PBA Press Corps during the media group’s Christmas Party at Sambokojin, West Avenue, last Saturday night. They put together a knockout package as the grand prize for the traditional Christmas raffle and it blew everyone away.
The unprecedented grand prize consisted of free round-trip tickets to Los Angeles for two, VIP passes for the Ellen Degeneres show, five-night hotel stay, Warner Brothers studio tour and a Levi’s Haus of Strauss visit where guests are given a denim jacket and a pair of jeans. There were other prizes in the raffle, like a TV set, washing machine and cash, but the grand prize was the top of the line.
There were 32 members of the Press Corps at Sambokojin and each pulled out a number for the raffle. “We decided that whoever picked No. 7 would get the grand prize but we didn’t announce it at the start,” said Gelo. “Privately, we also decided No. 7 wouldn’t be part of the raffle for the other prizes so there were 31 numbers left. After four rounds of raffle, we noticed the No. 7 holder was getting uncomfortable because he wasn’t winning anything and others already had two or three prizes. Of course, he didn’t know he would be the grand prize winner. He had quite a shock when he found out he was the big winner in the end.”
Gelo said the idea for a grand prize came about the day after Christmas when he and his business partner Icel flew to Hong Kong to meet up with Claudia Gharibian, an executive of the Ellen Degeneres show. “I’ve known Claudia for over 10 years,” said Gelo. “I met her in L. A. and we’ve been close friends since. When I found out she would be in Hong Kong, I flew in at 5:30 p.m. on Dec. 26, met her for dinner then flew back to Manila at 9 a.m. the next day. Over dinner, I mentioned the PBA was hosting a raffle for the Press Corps and she offered VIP passes to Ellen’s show and a Warner Brothers studio tour as prizes. Then, during dinner, we face-timed one of our dearest friends Melissa Ladines Mejia, PR for Levi’s International and she offered a Levi’s Haus tour as a prize.”
Back in Manila, Gelo met up with his buddy Aga Muhlach and mentioned the raffle for the Press Corps. “Aga and I played golf Christmas Eve and we were planning another golf game,” said Gelo. “Aga knows Claudia and her brother Rev who were once his guests at his resthouse in Mataas Na Kahoy in Batangas. When I mentioned Claudia’s prizes, Aga offered two round-trip tickets to L. A. Aga thought if you give those VIP passes without the round-trip tickets, it wouldn’t be complete. Aga has a soft heart for writers so he offered the round-trip tickets as his Christmas gift. Aga and I go back a long way. We used to play basketball at Xavier in the ‘80s. For over 20 years, we played basketball at least twice a week. We played with Raymund (Yu) of Rain or Shine on Tuesdays or Thursdays and we also had a Wednesday club.”
Because of Aga’s new movie “Miracle in Cell No. 7,” Gelo picked No. 7 as the winning number for the grand prize. The winner turned out to be Philip Matel, a 23-year-old espn5 on-line writer who has covered the PBA for two years. Philip is a UST journalism graduate and an only child. His father Manolo works in the Senate while his mother Portia is employed at the Dr. Jose Fabella Memorial Hospital. Philip and his mother have never travelled abroad. His father has been to Hong Kong and Macau.
“I spoke with Philip and he’d like to bring his parents to L. A. with him,” said Gelo. “I’ll assist them in applying for US visas. Since they’ll be three, I might just shoulder the air fare of the extra person and they can use as pocket money what they would’ve paid for a third ticket.”
PBA chairman Ricky Vargas and newly-designated Blackwater head coach Nash Racela joined commissioner Willie, Gelo and the PBA staff in celebrating the holidays with the Press Corps. Happy New Year to all!