"Paskong Pilipino, Isang Pagbubuklod"

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Filipino Christmas party is in a class all their own, on the 11th of December 2005 at the Lower Hutt Horticultural Hall. It was what Paskong Pilipino is all about. The Filipino Community Groups in the Wellington region and highly commendable individuals contributed to the success of this event. 

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The contributions varied from organising the venue, decorating and setting up the hall, printing of posters and tickets, donations from the sponsors and donors, meetings with the Filipino groups, sorting out of the food, sending out invitations to Filipino talents for them to perform, putting the programme together and running it, serving the food, doing the raffles, etc and then afterwards, cleaning up of the venue. It was hard work, but people came together and it was a success. Unity and service to one another were demonstrated. It was a real sense of community. Well done, mga kababayan!

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The event started when doors were opened at 5PM.  After 30 minutes of settling people down, the programme started, then dinner served with the following pre-packed food from Tibiao Catering:  rice, Pancit Bijon, Beef Caldereta and Embotido (for adults) and Spaghetti (for kids); a can of softdrinks organised by Bulwagan and Fruit Salad (Filipino style) provided by the Filipino Chaplaincy.  The OFI band provided (soft acoustic) music while everybody’s having dinner.  There were also food stalls but these were only open to those who have license to sell food.

 

Tickets were sold as follows: 

• $10      Child (5 – 12 years)

• $15       Adult Unwaged

• $20      Adult

• $50     2 Adults and 2 Children (5 – 12 years)

• Free   0 to Under 5 Years

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The programme started with the Wellington Filipino Community Choir singing “Kumukutikutitap…”, “The Prayer” and “A Nightingale Sung In Berkeley Square”, followed by Led Lugtu with his Classical guitar playing “Maalaala Mo Kaya” and “Usahay”; little Emma Young  did a Tap dance Medley, Jamuel Enriquez on his saxophone and Jun Brigguera performed “Let It Snow” and “What a Wonderful World”; Dawn Laureles from the Youth Group did a Jazz number to the tune of “All Night” by Janet Jackson;  Erica Llorico and his friend Jorelle on the piano did a duo of the song entitled “Dance With My Father”;  Bettuh Recognize from the Wainouimata Social Teens rendered a Hip hop dance to the tune of "Sex Machine"; the 4th Row Band performed “Fruit Cake” and “No Touch” then Leo Lugtu joined the 4th Row Band to render his own composition, “Sa Aking Panaginip”; the cute little kids from Binhi did a song and dance with Mike, Hobie and Kenji with “All I Want for Christmas Is You”;  Mommy Pas Vasquez from the Young Once rendered songs entitled “Loveliest Time Of The Year” and “Ang Tangi Kong Pag-ibig”; followed by Caryl Illana with a song entitled "Everywhere" by Michelle Branch; NZP dancers did a Latin-Jive mix dance; Stephanie Jowett from the Friday Club did a Tap dance medley; Carolyn Gray from WIFS did a modern dance number to the tune of “Smooth Criminal” by Michael Jackson; Fr. Red with the OFI Band performed on the songs “Kaleidoscope World” and “Crazy for You”; and finally, the OFI Band rendered their own “This Promise” and "What I Like About You”.

 

It’s also remarkable to see and hear Ambassador Tejano who emphasized the fact that the Philippine Embassy stands firm to their commitment to be of service to the Filipino Community in NZ.  He personally pledged a thousand dollars for building a Wellington Filipino Community Centre in the near future.

 

There were about 18 people who went home with the raffle prizes that night.  Tickets were sold for $2 each.  The following are prizes and donors for the raffle draw: 

• 4-burner gas craft barbecue w gas bottle donated by Lucky Travel – Gloria Padlan

• $200 food voucher donated by Tibiao Catering & Capital  Bakery – Nieva Lim

• $100 Petrol voucher donated by Victoria Motors – Manny Mendoza

• Bottles of Wine donated by Nilda Campbell

• Bottles of wines donated by Johnny Celeste

• A fabric piece from India and a Flower Gardening book donated by Dr. and Mrs. Rajpal

• A gift from Anita Mansell

• Children’s Clothing from B Sutherland

• $50 Cash from Ron and Fe Harris

• Dinner Set from Alice Lozano

• Parcel from C Clarke

• $200 Plumbing Word voucher from Ed Ocampo

• Christmas hamper from WIFS

• Hamper from Memo Christian

• 1-burner stove from Tres Maria – Oscar Catoto

• Overnight stay with breakfast at the Westin Plaza for 2 from Alta Solutions – Rose Tuazon

• Electric fan from Nic-Nao Foreign Exchange

• Electric water cooler/filter from RLC Remittance

• Adult movie voucher for 2 from Judith Mendoza

 

The hall decoration had a “Paskong Pilipino, Isang Pagbubuklod 2005” lettering as back-drop which was provided by Carol Villa and Mila Hosie.  A big Christmas tree was provided by Dinna O'Meara.  Bandaritas were made and put up by the Spring of Life.  Parols were put up as decorations on stage and the hall (2 small and 1 big capis parols from Alice Lozano, 2 parols from the Embassy c/o Becky Benitez).  Tables and chairs set up by the volunteers.

 

Brent Lewis dressed up as Santa and distributed the gifts (200 Christmas calendars) to children up to 12 years. Sylvia Zonoobi provided the large Santa suit. 

 

Survey questionnaires regarding the Filipino Community Centre were distributed with the objective of finding the level of interest of the Filipino Community on having the centre and how they can support if they want one.  The Survey indicated a very positive response indeed. 

 

The following has volunteered to contribute their time, money and effort to make this event a success.

 

The following have donated cash towards the expenses for this event:

• Anita Mansell from WIFS towards the children’s gifts

• Rose & Keith Turner of Ascot Export/Import towards the children’s gifts

• Dr. Tony Noblejas

• Miss Myla

• Brent Lewis

• Liza Chapman

• Lisa Bidgood of Baileys Real Estate

• PC Distributors

• Wellington Filipino Taxi Drivers namely: Tofi, Andy Basa , Rene Hilaga, Angelo, Errol, Johnson, John Miranda, Jayson, Freddie and Delfin de Guzman 

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