Up for grabs were three prestigious titles: Most Original, Most Elegant and – in tune with the coming holidays – Most Christmasy.
There were dog registrants from as far as Laguna in the South and Quezon City in the North. But the majority were registered citizens of Ayala Alabang. For starters, no askals were registered although purebred was not a requirement.
There were Poodles and Jack Russells, Labradors, even a Pitbull. After an hour of registration the call to order came over the mike. Dog owners were given 10 minutes to dress up their pooches and to psych them up for the grand parade!
Inside the Arts and Crafts tent, the dogs and their owners were asked to walk around the tent, parading in front of the judges. There were three judges, two top fashion designers – Christian Espiritu and Ito Curata – joined by the barangay captain Roland Pineda.
In the small dog category, the little darlings did their walk – some nervously, some hesitantly – while others had to be scooped up by their owners. But most of them were happily wagging their tails.
Next came the medium-size dogs. More confident, half walking, half running, displaying much poise as they were asked to "strut their stuff." By the time the big dogs came out, the audience was clapping their hands, ooohing and aaahing for their darlings. Dog lover or not, it brought smiles as man’s best friends took center stage.
After all of them walked around once, all dogs were asked to do the grand parade as the judges made their final decision.
After some deliberation, the winners were announced: Most Original went to Spike, owned by Danni Ramos. Most Elegant was awarded to Miguel, owned by Marie Claire Purisima. Most Christmasy was Nicoy, owned by Doods Jimenez.
Each dog was given a medal to hang around his neck while the owner was given a trophy and goodies from Pedigree Dog food.
It was hard to choose the title holders. "They were all winners," said Christian Espiritu. Espiritu is the editor of the weekly AAVA newsletter and the Villagers magazine.
The fun event got Paskuhan 2006 started with a big crowd of villagers who enjoyed the over 80 crafters and food concessionaires, most of them from the province of Pampanga. In the afternoon, the office of Governor Mark Lapid sent their dance troupe, who did an excellent lantern dance to honor their famous parol. The following day, the city of San Fernando sent their Magsilbi Tamu Banda 919 band, which gave a most impressive concert. But the most novel presentation was the Frog Olympics, where a group of young boys and girls competed for the following skills honoring the famous rice betute (frogs). The longest kokak incantation was handily won by a little foreign boy in the audience. This was followed by the longest leap, and as a finale, live frogs were released to compete in a relay! They went in all directions, although one went for the gold!
As the sun set, the famous lanterns of San Fernando blazed in beautiful colors in rhythm with the music as villagers strolled under the century-old trees of Makiling park, having early dinners (Pampanga’s Everybody’s Café did brisk business as well as Gourmet’s Palate) and leisurely shopping for their Christmas lanterns and other gift items for the holidays.
This is the fourth Arts and Crafts Festival produced by a group of women from the Alabang area to promote Philippine culture, arts and crafts. The ladies of AMICAE MMDCC are Marilen Espiritu, MayMay Liechstenstein, Denise Mañosa, Carmita Francisco, Christine Bitanga Marco, in cooperation with Barangay Ayala Alabang, Ayala Alabang Village Association, the office of Governor Mark Lapid, San Fernando Mayor Oscar Rodriguez and Pampanga DTI director Anacleto Blanco. The help of the province of Pampanga was invaluable. Another province that also had a booth selling parols was Las Piñas, with no less than its dynamic Congresswoman Cynthia Villar joining in the opening ceremonies as one of the honored guests.