Librarian is lucky winner

A 62-year-old librarian from Casimiro Townhomes, Queensrow East, in Bacoor, Cavite, is the lucky first prize winner of our Christmas contest. Jaime Giron’s name was picked from a huge box that held over 1,000 entries.

Yesterday, I tried to contact Giron at his work place, the Pasay Public Library. But he was absent. The person who took the call at the library said it was Giron’s birthday. Giron’s entry didn’t indicate a home phone number. His co-worker said he’s married with three daughters – the eldest used to work with Sen. Noli de Castro on ABS-CBN’s Magandang Gabi Bayan.

I don’t know if Giron had been told of his good fortune. If not, this should come as a big surprise.

Giron’s entry had the three correct answers – Sta. Lucia Realty as the PBA Governors Cup champion, Danny Ildefonso as the PBA’s MVP this year, and Doug Collins as Michael Jordan’s coach with the Washington Wizards in the National Basketball Association (NBA).

Giron’s haul is a king’s ransom. It‘s not just an early Christmas present but also an accidental birthday gift. He takes home a P5,000 gift certificate from Sta. Lucia Realty to shop at Sta. Lucia East, a Samsung Digital 35 MP3 triple mode camera from the Red Bull team, a PBA 25th anniversary coffee table book from Commissioner Jun Bernardino, a San Miguel jacket, watch and umbrella, a pair of Nike warm-up pants, a Shell mini-basketball, a Shell leather wallet, an And-1 T-shirt, two rolls of Agfa film, an And-1 VHS tape, a Philippine Basketball League (PBL) umbrella, a PBL paperweight, a Mobiline gym bag and bucket hat, an Alaska E-Cow stuffed toy and cap, a PBA lunch box and accessories bag, a PBL collared shirt, a PBA T-shirt, a Dunlop T-shirt, a Ginebra T-shirt, a pair of No Fear socks, a Tanduay towel, T-shirt and cap, two dozen packs of Blu powder detergent, 10 bottles of Shark energy drink, 10 bottles of Red Bull energy drink, Slam and KO Magazine from Emerald Headway Distributors, a basket of assorted groceries from RFM Corp., and a bag of assorted canned goods from Purefoods.

In all, we drew 23 winners – in honor of the world’s greatest player who happens to wear jersey No. 23 for the Wizards.

Second prize winner is Rangel Dominique B. Gan of Sta. Monica Compound, Malinta, Valenzuela City. Believe it or not, she sent only one entry. Rangel, 7, is a Grade 2 student at Malinta Elementary School and the youngest daughter of Rogelio, an accountant, and Angelita, a employee of Interpolimar Corp. which manufactures Bantex slippers.

Rangel’s prize package consists of an instamatic camera and digital watch from PBL commissioner Chino Trinidad, a PBA 25th anniversary coffee table book, a jacket, shorts, and warm-up pants from Nike, a Shell leather wallet, an And-1 VHS tape, two rolls of Agfa film, an Alaska basketball, a Shell mini-basketball, a PBL collared shirt, an And-1 T-shirt, a Ginebra T-shirt, a PBA T-shirt, an Adidas gym bag, a PBA lunch bag, a Mobiline bucket hat, an Alaska cap, a pair of No Fear socks, a PBL paperweight, a towel, T-shirt and cap from Tanduay, two dozen packs of Blu powder detergent, 10 bottles of Shark energy drink, 10 bottles of Red Bull energy drink, Slam and KO Magazine from Emerald Headway Distributors, a basket of assorted groceries from RFM Corp., and a basket of assorted canned goods from Purefoods.

Third prize winner is Ma. Lourdes Manalang of Luna Street, Malinao, Pasay City. She is an examiner at the Central Bank where she has worked the last 14 years. Manalang, 39, sent in three entries. A College of the Holy Spirit graduate, she earned a Master’s degree in Business Administration at La Salle. She is an avid fan of the NBA’s Utah Jazz and dreams of her husband, Ramon, looking like her favorite player Karl Malone. She never fails to read The STAR every day.

Fourth prize winner is Elmer Sahagun of T. M. Kalaw Street, Caloocan City. Sahagun, 45, has worked over 20 years at Unilever. He sent in 12 entries.

Fifth prize winner is Mark Carpena of Tatlong Hari Street, Sta. Rosa, Laguna. Carpena, 22, is a computer technology graduate whose favorite PBA team is Sta. Lucia Realty. He had 15 entries.

The other winners are: Eloisa Mercado of Scout Fuentebella Street, Barangay Laging Handa, Diliman; Marivic Fabular of Olongapo Street, Alabang Hills Village, Muntinlupa; Gilbert Alegre of Caliraya Street, Holiday Homes, San Pedro, Laguna; Joselito Odita of Sevilla Street, Binondo; Armando Suarez of Banker’s Village, Gitnang Bayan, San Mateo, Rizal; Dalisay Pascual of Nicolas Street, Niyugan, Malabon; Fructuoso Ancheta of Quirino Avenue, Paco; Richard Mamuyac of Teachers Village, Lupang Pari, San Miguel, Pasig.

Analie de los Reyes of Lopezville Pangiray, Balagtas, Bulacan; Myra Fe Ramones of Pioneer Street, Mandaluyong; Nolie Faner Pasiola of San Benito, Alaminos, Laguna; Florencio Macaranas of Bakakeng, Baguio City; Laurence Borjal of Quirino Street, Tondo; Albert Ng of de Jesus Street, Caloocan City; Gilbert de los Reyes of Abad Santos Avenue, Tondo; Benjie Uy of Lim Street, Malate; Cristino Sacayanan of Rimando Road, Baguio City; and Romeo Encarnado of Tieza corner Makopa Streets, General Santos City.

The prizes for the third to 23rd placers are too many to enumerate.

All winners are invited to claim their prizes at The STAR office in Port Area this Friday, Dec. 21, at 4 p.m.

Again, we wish to thank our generous donors for making our year-end contest a huge success – Photokina Marketing (George Balagtas), DSS Productmakers (Dioceldo Sy), PBA (Commissioner Jun Bernardino), PBL (Commissioner Chino Trinidad), San Miguel Corp. (Robert Non), Ginebra San Miguel (Ira Maniquis), Shell (Bobby Villarosa), Sta Lucia Realty (Buddy Encarnado), Alaska Milk (Joaqui Trillo), RFM Corp. (Elmer Yanga), Talk ‘N Text (Frankie Lim), No Fear (Tommy Ong and Relly de Leon), Nike (Auty Villarama), Adidas (Goody Custodio), Sonia Trading (Anil Buxani), Dunlop Slazenger (Roland So), And-1 (Ideazpluz president Bob Zozobrado), Purefoods (Rene Pardo), Tanduay (Chito Bugia), and Emerald Headway Distributors (Itin Villanueva).