JOIN us and be a part of the 44th Year Anniversary Celebration of Silahis ng Pasko sa Baguio which will start on December 1, with a grand opening program and the colourful Children’s – Parents’ Mardi Gras. The month-long Christmas program is spearheaded by the National Correspondents Club of Baguio (NCCB) and the City Social Welfare and Development Office (CSWDO), in partnership with the city government. Through the years, our Christmas offering with its collage of religious, cultural, civic-social, sports, and tourism events have in many ways generated the warmth and the spirit of the season, especially among the young, the adults, the grandparents, and with the people with disabilities (PWD) and visitors. It’s a well-rounded presentation for all ages and for our cosmopolitan populace, built on the spirit, love, and message of the birth of Jesus, our Lord and Saviour.
From any perspective, Silahis ng Pasko is primarily a “caring and sharing” endeavor. This is the reason and anchor, why the Christmas Season program continues to be a very special humanitarian episode, notwithstanding its shoestring budget. Sustaining it at high gear momentum every year are several government agencies, civic-social minded groups and friends who believe is the principles and mission of the undertaking. In the fore-front as our partners as well as event sponsors are the Philippine Military Academy, the Armed Forces of the Philippines, the Department of Tourism – CAR, the Baguio City National High School, Phases Learning Center, the BAMAPCOM, SLU-SVP Housing Cooperative, the Baguio General Hospital and Medical Center, the Baguio Electric Company, Baguio Balikbayan couple Bonnie and Jossie Delenila of Scout Barrio barangay, retired U.S. Navy-man Angel Villalarvo and family, and the Baguio Elderly Assembly. The BEA member associations are BARP Foundation, Federation of Baguio Senior Citizens Associations, Philippine Government Retirees Association – Baguio Chapter, Veterans Federation of the Philippines Baguio District, and the United States Armed Forces of the Philippines Northern Luzon represented by the World War II Veterans, showcasing the famous 66th Infantry Battalion, AFP. Of course, we are happy and proud that the tri-media practitioners in teh city are ever active in giving Silahis ng Pasko the widest publicity possible for the benefit of all. Truly, the special December celebration makes the community a bundle of joy and prayers for a better and more beautiful Baguio.
The launching rites o the Silahis ng Baguio 2017 will be held at the Shrine of Brown Madonna, along Km. 7 Asin Road, on November 26, four days before it goes off the pod. A thanksgiving mass will be celebrated by Rev. Fr. Alejandro Bangilan, the Shine’s and the NCCB’s Spiritual Adviser. A floral offering and a candlelight ceremony by CSWDO Day Care pupils and their parents, clad in their Christmas Mardi Gras costumes will take part in the religious schedule. The Holy Mass is scheduled at 10 o’clock in the morning. The release of the colourful balloons to signal the start of the Silahis ng Pasko will be led by Betty Fangasan, CSWDO department head and co-chair of the December spectacle, with yours truly as the executive project officer. A simple fellowship luncheon hosted by the Shrine’s Project Committee and the CSWDO will end the day’s commemorative activity.
Meanwhile, the Kafagway Sports Community have started to screen adn select the best of the best of our city and CAR athletes and sportsmen for the coming awards and recognition program set early next year. Aside from the Athletes of the Year honorees, the most outstanding athletes in the various sports disciplines like track and field, taekwondo, judo, wushu, boxing, car racing, chess, and other martial arts, among others will be recognized with appropriate awards. Our most outstanding para-olympics CAR athletes are included in the pool of awardees. The members of the Kafagway Sports Awards Committee are Harley Palangcaho, editor of the Baguio Midland Courier, Roderick Osis, editor of Sun.Star Baguio, Dobie De Guzman, anchorman of ABS-CBN TV Patrol Northern Luzon, Romy Gonzales, NCCB Vice President and DZRH correspondent with myself as the overall chairman. Leading sports organizations in the Cordillera Region will also be recognized for their massive and sincere efforts in promoting psorts as a way of life.
Last Saturday, October 29, our dear friend, Baguio Balikbayan Bonifacio “Bonnie” Delenila, 85, of Scout Barrio barangay died of lingering illness, his tormentor for the last two years. His loving better half Jossie informed us that she rushed Bonnie to the Baguio Medical Center several hours before he expired. This morning, Bonnie’s remains will be entombed at the Heaven’s Memorial Park at Loakan Barangay after a necrological service at Scout Barrio’s Parish Church at 9 o’clock in the morning. For over a decade, the Delenilas are the event host of the Lucky Baguio Christmas Baby quest, a very special fraternal endeavor of Silahis ng Pasko. My wife Consuelo Sol and I were very pleased, glad, and teary-eyed when Jossie vowed to continue supporting actively what she and her late husband were doing for the lucky Christmas baby until her last breath. Last Monday, the CSWDO social workers led by old Florecita Tul-an paid a visit to pay their respect to Bonnie at their JH residence. I recall that Bonnie was an executive chef of a prominent hotel in California while Jossie was an elementary school teacher for many long years before they came back home to the country. May the good Lord bless the soul of our dear friend and benefactor.