Pasig bares winners of Christmas songfest

The St. John Bosco Chorale bagged the first prize trophy for the choir-adult category during the finals night of the Paskong Himig sa Pasig Christmas Caroling Contest held at the Pasig Convention Center. The Rizal High School Choir also won first prize for the Youth Category while the Metropolitan Children’s Choir bagged the top spot for the children’s category.

Other winners under the vocal solo division include Richard Ruiz for the adult category, Jesebel Germia for the Youth Category, Eliezer Logronio for the children’s category.Apart from the trophy, the St. John Bosco Chorale received P30,000 in cash while the other winners in the choir category took home P25,000 each. The three vocal solo winners received P5,000 cash prize respectively. Sponsored by the Pasig City government, this year’s Paskong Himig was the biggest ever since the competition was established more than 10 years ago by Pasig First Lady Soledad "Soly" Eusebio.

A total of 158 vocal solo artists and choral groups competed for the honor of being the best Christmas carolers in Metro Manila. Held annually to foster Christmas spirit in the metropolis, the choral contest is open only to amateur singers.

Apart from singers coming from Pasig City, contestants coming from Quezon City, Manila, Makati, Taguig and the outlying towns of Rizal province participated for the first time in this year’s contest. "We decided to open up the competition to non-Pasigueños this year due to public clamor and also to make the contest more exciting. I am very happy with the turn-out this year and I am confident that Paskong Himig will again be as successful next year," Mrs. Eusebio said during the awards night. — Non Alquitran