MANILA, Philippines – Customers and curious passersby gathered at Shopwise Araneta recently to witness the Shopwise Summer Sarap Grand Pabitin, the culminating event of a series of weekly pabitins, which were part of the hypermart’s summer promo, held in participating Shopwise branches in the past few weeks.
Pabitin is a popular Filipino game, usually played in birthday parties and town fiestas, where prizes are hung from a lattice of bamboo before this is hung from a tree or wires. Players position themselves under the pabitin and try to jump and grab as many goodies as they can as it is lowered and raised.
From over 250,000 entries across all Shopwise branches, seven finalists were drawn, one from each branch, to participate in the grand pabitin, where they will vie for seven major prizes, the grandest of which is a brand-new 2009 Kia Carnival. The audience cheered as contestants battled for the loot, which were represented by different-colored plastic eggs containing a slip of paper indicating the prize they won.
Businessman Michael Cadeliña, was the lucky grand-prize winner of the Kia Carnival. He was near tears when he discovered what was inside the plastic egg he had grabbed. A regular shopper at Shopwise Alabang, he confessed that he had a strategy for choosing his egg during the pabitin. “I prayed to God for a sign, and then I noticed that there were a lot of red objects surrounding me. It was then that I decided to target the red egg,” he explains, beaming. “My wife and I are so happy to have received this blessing, and we are very grateful to God, and of course, Shopwise!”
Having been shopping at the Alabang branch since it opened, Cadeliña regularly goes to Shopwise to purchase groceries that he needs to run his business, a food kiosk at Festival Mall. He mentions that his wife is particularly fond of the bread offered by Shopwise, while he himself regularly buys clothes there as well.
“We love Shopwise because the prices are so reasonable and affordable, and the promos are great, too!” he enthuses. “There are other groceries in the area, but we go to Shopwise because of these.”
The other grand pabitin winners were Rhoda Wilson (Coleman barbecue grill), Romeo Manalansan (LG no-frost refrigerator), Aristotle Mercado (a pair of mountain bikes), Sylvia Garma (Shopwise shopping spree worth P25,000), Ruby Dayrit (trip for two to Hong Kong), and Florentina Calderon (32-inch LG LCD TV with a home theater system.)
Shopwise is located in Makati, Libis, Antipolo City, at the ground floor of Harrison Plaza Mall, at Festival Supermall in Alabang, in Araneta Center, Cubao, and along Sucat Road corner Soreena Avenue, Parañaque City.