With the theme “Kalinaw, Kasadya, Kahiusa,” this year’s Pasko sa V. Rama is expected to draw more crowds as organizers lay down stricter rules to ensure better entries.
The yearly event, which started in 1996, had residents from barangays Guadalupe, Calamba and San Nicolas competing for the most creative nativity scene and most decorated house along V. Rama Avenue starting from the Guadalupe Church.
The city government has allocated P5,000 as seed money for each of the 18 entries this year and would handle the electrical cost of the participating Christmas decorations.
But unlike the previous year, organizers have laid down stricter rules to ensure that the entries this year would follow the designs they would submit during pre-judging on December 1.
Organizers said entries that do not follow their original designs would have corresponding point deductions. The annual event would also be formally launched that day while final judging will be held on December 16.
Aside from the entries for best nativity scene, residents of the three barangays are also divided into 18 clusters that will participate in the decoration contest. The decorations will be up within 12 meters from the nativity scene.
The winning nativity scene will receive P20,000 while second and third will receive P15,000 and P10,000 each respectively. The rest of the entries would receive P1,000 as consolation prize.
Meanwhile, the winner in cluster decoration contest will receive P15,000 while the second and third will receive P10,000 and P5,000 each respectively. The non-winning entries would receive P1,000.
The best decorated house, on the other hand, will receive P5,000 while the second and third will receive P3,000 and P2,000 respectively. Ten non-winning houses would receive P500 consolation prize.
Vice Mayor Michael Rama, the main proponent of the project together with the Rotary Club of Cebu- Guadalupe, said the purpose of the event is to gather the residents of the three barangays to participate in an activity that would foster cooperation and emphasize cleanliness during the Yuletide Season.
Rama said even with the absence of entries in the different contests, the primary indicators of the success of the event is when the people in the three barangays would do their best in decorating their houses for the most anticipated season of the year. – Joeberth M. Ocao/LPM