LC to join Christmas Masterpiece tilt anew
After bagging one of the 11 silver medals last year, the Laoag City government is very positive about winning the major prize this year, as it hears to turn the whole Fonacier Park, more popularly known as the city plaza, as its entry for the 2006 Christmas Masterpiece contest. The Christmas Masterpiece 2006: Likhang Pasko is an inter-municipality and city landmark-making contest with the Christmas season as the theme and using indigenous and recyclable materials integrated with Lady’s Choice jars. The top plum last year was won by Naawan, a fifth class municipality in Misamis Oriental. A P1 million cash prize, along with extensive print and television coverage of the municipality, was won by the said municipal government. Ms Chevylle V. Fariñas, city tourism and social concerns council chairperson, is hopeful that the city’s entry this year will win the top award as they engage the “bayanihan” spirit of the people behind the construction of the Christmas landmark. Fariñas said that winning the P1 million cash prize would be very important to the city government, particularly to the city tourism office to fund its projects, programs and activities in line with the tourism industry. In addition to this, Fariñas said the extensive coverage from major newspapers and television networks would also be a great help in promoting the city, as well as the province, as major tourist destinations of the country. The city’s entry is expected to be completed next month as the deadline for completion of entries is set on October 31, 2006. An inspection of the landmark will coincide with the deadline. The said landmark is also required to remain in place until January 2007. Criteria for judging are: creativity, 30%; workmanship, 15%; originality, 15%; use of jars, caps and labels, 10%; use of indigenous materials, 10%; use of recyclable materials, 10%; and team participation, 10%. According to Fariñas, the validation and regional screening will be undertaken by a panel representing the fields of arts, architecture, culture and tourism, and Unilever/CEMG from November 2 to 17. The pre-judging of the regional entries will be on November 20 where two semi-finalists per region will qualify to complete the 32 semi-finalists from all over the country. The final judging would be held in Manila on November 22 by a panel of five judges with the use of video footages and photos taken by the validation team and submitted by participants, the presentation of the city and municipality, and the validation teams’ reports. Prizes for the contest are P1 million cash, P5 million worth of media publicity, computer laboratory package, Internet connection, website development and hosting for one year, and P20,000 worth of Unilever products for the first prize. The second prize pot consists of P300,000 cash, P3 million worth of publicity and P15,000 worth of Unilever products; while the third prize winner will get P100,000 cash, P2 million worth of media publicity and P10,000 worth of Unilever products. Special prizes of P100,000 for the landmark which used the most number of Lady’s Choice jars, P100,000 for best lighting and best use of Lady’s Choice jar contents are also at stake. According to Fariñas, the content of the jars will be used for a feeding program to children right before the ceremonial lighting of the landmark. The city’s entry, Fariñas divulged, would be a unique one where a big Christmas dove in front would symbolize peace, a giant Christmas tree, a calesa with Santa Claus riding and a Christmas cathedral would be built. Dominic B. dela Cruz
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