Winners’ gallery

More than 5,000 entries filled our drop box at The STAR office lobby in Port Area as once again, the response to our yearend contest– we called it "The X’Mas Treat"–was overwhelming.

The answers to our questions are: Willie Miller as the Philippine Basketball Association (PBA) Most Valuable Player this season and Coca-Cola as the All-Filipino Cup champion. The catch was all entries had to be in before the MVP awarding in Game 3 of the All-Filipino Finals. So the cutoff date was Dec. 21, a Saturday.

Why 26 winners? We chose 26 to pay tribute to the Philippine delegation that represented the country at the recent Asian Games in Busan. The contingent brought back a haul of 26 medals–three gold, seven silvers, and 16 bronzes. In our Christmas contest last year, we picked 23 winners to honor Michael Jordan’s return to hoops.

Here are the lucky 26:

First prize – Nilo Santiago of Paguio Compound, Sta. Lucia, Novaliches. He takes home a Motorola dual band cellphone M3588 GSM, a P3,000 gift check from Sta. Lucia Realty, 10 Little Caesar’s solo supreme pizza gift certificate, three rolls of Agfa film, a San Miguel Beer reversible jacket, an Accel giant travel bag, a Philippine Basketball League (PBL) gym bag, an Alaska Coleman 1/3 gallon jug, a Kevin Garnett CD-ROM from And 1, a Philadelphia 76ers T-shirt, a pair of National Basketball Association (NBA) low-cut socks, assorted soft drinks from Coca-Cola, two magazines from Emerald Headway, a San Miguel Beer umbrella, a Nike pro pack (including a soccer ball, gear and training cones), a bag of Purefoods canned goods valued at P500, an Alaska E-Cow stuffed toy, an Ever Bilena beauty case, a Shark collared T-shirt, PBA Score cologne, a Red Bull basketball, a Mikasa volleyball, a Red Bull calendar, and a No Fear pocket calendar.

Second prize –Leah Lim of Room 601, Don Santiago Building, Taft Avenue. Her prizes are a Motorola dual band cellphone M3588 GSM, a P1,000 gift check from Sta. Lucia Realty, five Little Caesar’s solo supreme pizza gift certificate, two rolls of Agfa film, a San Miguel Beer travel bag, a PBL gym bag, a San Miguel Beer reversible jacket, a Red Bull basketball, a FedEx umbrella, a bag of Purefoods canned goods valued at P500, assorted soft drinks from Coca-Cola, an Ever Bilena beauty case, Nike soccer equipment, an Alaska Coleman 1/3 gallon jug, an Alaska E-Cow stuffed toy, a Kevin Garnett CD-ROM from And l, a pair of NBA socks, a Shark collared T-shirt, a 76ers T-shirt, a Puma cap, two magazines from Emerald Headway, a Mikasa volleyball, a Red Bull calendar and a No Fear pocket calendar.

Third prize –Rodolfo Pangilinan of No. 7 Sta. Monica Compound, Malinta, Valenzuela City. He wins a Konica Pop EFP-8 camera, a PBL bag, a Red Bull basketball, a bag of Purefoods canned goods valued at P500, five Little Caesar’s solo supreme pizza gift certificate, a P1,000 gift check from Sta. Lucia Realty, assorted soft drinks from Coca-Cola, a FedEx umbrella, an Ever Bilena beauty case, an Alaska Coleman 1/3 gallon jug, an Alaska E-Cow stuffed toy, PBA Score cologne, Nike soccer equipment, a pair of NBA socks, two rolls of Agfa film, a Shark collared T-shirt, a 76ers T-shirt, two magazines from Emerald Headway, a Mikasa volleyball, a Red Bull calendar and a No Fear pocket calendar.

The other winners are:

• Rogelio Papango of 276 Recuerdo Street, San Nicolas, Binondo; Miguel Mayo, Jr. of Barangay Baliwagan, San Enrique, Negros Occidental; Francisco Bornasal of 194 Pahati Street, Balut, Tondo; Danny Gacura of No. 7 Sta. Monica Compound, Malinta, Valenzuela City; Aileen Ramones of 16-G Pvt. P. Cruz, Barangka, Mandaluyong; Joey Andrea Odita of Colegio de Sta. Rosa, Intramuros; Raymond Arrienda of No. 57 Palo Alto Street, Habay, Bacoor, Cavite; Laiyan Shee of 519 Paseo del Congreso Street, Malolos, Bulacan.

• Rodolfo Sarte of No. 7 Sta. Monica Compound, Malinta, Valenzuela; Romeo Encarnado of No. 6 Peacock Street, Don Mariano Subdivision, Cainta; Jane Angat of 740 T. Kalaw Street, Area D, Camarin, Caloocan City; Ronald Ramos of Barangay Borot, San Miguel, Tarlac; Ammie Boco of Barangay Lintaren, Panay, Capiz; Honorato Batino, Jr. of 9199-D Catmon Street, San Antonio Village, Makati; Jose Tagayuna of No. 7 Sta. Monica Compound, Malinta, Valenzuela; Melvin Joseph Panerio of 7239 J. Victor Street, Barangay Pio del Pilar, Makati.

• James Michael Villa of Lot 5, Cluster B, Bagong Nayon, Antipolo; Richie Canete of 619 F. Cruz Street, Malibay, Pasay; Lelibeth Calibuso of No. 2 Urrubia Street, Project 4, Quezon City; Ronaldo Paz of 420 Balic-Balic, Sampaloc; Jacinto Nicdao of 196-L3 St. Mary’s Homes, San Jose, Dasmarinas, Cavite; Joeynne Anton Nieves of 3145 Int.-60 Pilar Street, Tondo; and Gretchen Soriano of Poblacion No. 1, Maura Street, Pura, Tarlac.

We won’t enumerate the prizes for the third to 26th winners because of space constraints. But winners are assured that their prizes make up quite a loot, too.

Entries came from all over the country. We drew entries from Abra, Iloilo, Naga City, Cagayan de Oro, Ilocos Sur, Baguio, Ozamis City, Binangonan, Imus, Tarlac, Pampanga, Bulacan, Negros Occidental, Cebu, Davao, General Santos City, and many, many more.

Of course, this treat wouldn’t have been possible without the generous support of our friends to whom we dedicate today’s column. Thanks so much for your support.

Here’s a list of our benefactors:

Talk ‘N’ Text (Frankie Lim), Photokina (George Balagtas, Rowena Sanchez), And 1 (Ideaz Pluz president Bob Zozobrado), Adidas (Goodie Custodio), Nike (Auty Villarama, Rely San Agustin), PBA (Commissioner Jun Bernardino), San Miguel Beer and Ginebra San Miguel (Ira Maniquis), Sta. Lucia Realty (Buddy Encarnado), Coca-Cola (JB Baylon), Purefoods (Rene Pardo), Fed Ex (Lito Alvarez), PBL Chairman Dioceldo Sy, PBL (Commissioner Chino Trinidad), Emerald Headway, Sonia Trading (Anil Buxani), Planet Sports (Anton Gonzalez), Pro Star (Jay Gervasio), Alaska (Joaqui Trillo), RFM Corp. (Elmer Yanga), and Dunlop (Roland So).

Winners will be contacted by phone. Prizes may be claimed at The Star office on Wed., Jan. 8, starting 4 p.m.

To all the winners, congratulations. To all those who sent entries but didn’t win, better luck next time. We hope to conduct more contests this coming year. And to our loyal readers and generous sponsors, thank you so much for your unwavering support.