Top prize includes P50K

The first prize package in our Christmas Contest will include P50,000 in cold cash. The second prize loot will include P20,000 cash, third prize P10,000 cash, fourth prize P5,000 gift certificates, fifth prize P5,000 in gift certificates and sixth prize P5,000 in gift certificates.

In all, we’re giving away prizes to 20 winners. So far, we’ve received gift donations from Alaska (20 basketballs, 20 E-Cow stuff dolls, 20 T-shirts), Blackwater (20 boxes of Cussons baby powder, baby shampoo, baby oil, baby cream and baby cologne and 10 boxes of Ever Bilena Naturals soap), Kia (20 limited edition FIFA soccer balls, 20 caps, 20 eco-bags, 20 T-shirts), MVP Group (10 Metro Pacific bags, 3 Meralco coffee kettles, 2 desk fans, 5 Meralco caps, 2 tote bags, 2 foldable bags, 7 jackets, 3 handcrafted bags, 2 water bottles), SBP (5 Molten basketballs and 5 SBP umbrellas) and Nestle (10 Milo umbrellas, 10 Milo basketballs, 10 Milo jackets).

Gift donations were also received from Shell (10 T-shirts, 5 PBA water bottles, 3 Ferrari jackets, 2 Balenciaga watches, 1 Manel’s overnight bag, 5 Ferrari mugs, 5 Ferrari polo shirts, 5 golf umbrellas), Emerald Headway (24 back issues of Reader’s Digest), Sonia Trading (4 Gosen badminton sets, 6 Molten soccer balls, 6 Molten basketballs), PBA (20 PBA T-shirts, 5 PBA basketballs, 20 PBA Annuals), San Miguel Corp. (5 San Miguel Beer jackets, 8 T-shirts, 5 polo shirts) and Ginebra San Miguel (16 Antonov bags, 6 Ginebra water bottles).

Cash donations were given by the Philippine Sports Commission (P50,000), Blackwater (P20,000), The Herma Group (P15,000), ALA Group (P12,500), Philippine Olympic Committee (P10,000), NLEX (P10,000) and Games and Amusements Board (P5,000). Additionally, gift certificates were donated by Robert Aventajado of the Philippine Taekwondo Association (P5,000) and Planet Sports (P10,000).

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We welcome more cash and gift donations from friends, benefactors and sports lovers. We are earmarking P80,000 cash to give our first, second and third prize winners so that whatever we collect in excess of P80,000 will be donated to the SAGIP (Saklolo at Gabay Ng Ina’t Pamilya) Foundation of Muntinlupa, duly certified by the Philippine Council for NGO Certification (PCNC). SAGIP was recently awarded as an outstanding socio-civic project by the world-wide organization committed to the advancement and empowerment of women, the US-based Zonta International. SAGIP, the flagship project of the Zonta Club of Muntinlupa and Environs, is a 24/7 crisis response center that addresses the immediate safety and healing needs of abused women and children. It is also active in implementing advocacy initiatives in communities and schools to prevent violence against women and children.

 It’s easy to join our Christmas contest which we launched in this column last Dec. 3. Simply answer the following questions: 1. Who is the oldest PBA player today? 2. Who was the fighter whom Manny Pacquiao defeated to regain the WBO welterweight championship this year? 3. Name the four teams that have won Grand Slams in the PBA (one team won two Grand Slams). Then, in three sentences or less, express your thoughts on why or why not sports should be a priority in our national government agenda.

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Write your answers and the brief essay on a piece of paper and send to The Philippine Star sports section, R. Oca and Railroad Streets, Port Area, Metro Manila, Deadline for entries is 5 p.m. this Friday, Dec. 12. We will select 20 winners with the correct answers and the most insightful essays. Winners will be announced in this column on Tuesday, Dec. 16, and prizes will be awarded at The Philippine Star office at 10 a.m., Wednesday, Dec. 17.

Don’t forget to write your name, age, address, telephone number (cellphone details preferred) and occupation (if student, course, year and school). Send in your entries now, don’t wait until the last day.

We’ve received a message that a donor is sending over a TV set as a prize. If the TV set comes in, we’ll include it in the first prize package. We’ll make a definite announcement on the contents of the first prize package this Friday, the deadline day to submit entries.