19 December 2016 — The 3rd Annual Parol Festival in Turkey with the theme "Pagbibigayan, Kapayapaan at Pagmamahalan ang Diwa at Mensahe ng Pasko” (Spirit of Sharing, Peace and Love: The Real Essence of Christmas) was held on December 04 at the Philippine Embassy in Ankara.
More than 200 people from the Filipino community, the diplomatic corps and guests from the Turkish Ministry of Foreign Affairs (MFA) and various international organizations attended the event.
The event kicked off with a Christmas ‘salo-salo’ lunch where popular Philippine dishes including pancit, chicken pork adobo, chopsuey and ube halaya were served.
After lunch, the 20 parol entries were judged by Ambassador Mohd. Sahrip Othman of Brunei, Ambassador Wardana of Indonesia, Ambassador Selverajah A. of Singapore, Ambassador Tuan Pham Anh of Viet Nam, Ambassador ABD Razak Bin Abdul Wahab of Malaysia, Charge d’Affaires a.i. Chatchawaran Sakornsin of Thailand, Fr. Jean Marc Balhan, Parish Priest of Meryem Ana Church, Mrs. Anita Malhotra, Spouse of Mr. Kamal Malhotra, Resident Representative of United Nations Development Programme (UNDP), and Mrs. ILknur Oba of Dışişleri Mensupları Eşleri Dayanışma Derneği (DMEDD).
Also present during the occasion were Archbishop Paul Fitzpatrick Russel, Apostolic Nuncio, Mr. Akil Öktem, Head of Department, Southeast Asia and Pacific of the Turkish MFA, Mr. Salahaddin Eymen Ozsahin, Third Secretary, Southeast Asia and Pacific of the Turkish MFA, Mr. Kim Nguyen, First Secretary, Embassy of Vietnam, Ms. Diah Retno Bayumurthi, Third Secretary of Embassy of Indonesia, Ms. May Nguyen, Third Secretary, Embassy of Vietnam, Mrs. Emine Yuksel, DMEDD, Mrs. Gunser Eymir, DMEDD, Dr. Fulya Saglik and retired Turkish Ambassador Sule Soysal.
The parol entries were judged according to the following criteria:
- Relevance to the theme;
- Creativity, uniqueness and/or originality;
- Types of recycled materials used; and
- Neatness of the Parol and craftsmanship.
One representative of each team was on hand to respond to the judges’ queries on their parols.
First Prize went to the group of Marissa Lising, Rea Castillo and Maelanie Lising. They created a star-shaped parol made of plastic bottle caps, pistachio shells and plastic straw cut-outs of different colors to form the flags of the Philippines and Turkey. Second Prize went to Ms. Mary Ann Basa, Trevor Gardner and Luke Gardner. They too created a star-shaped parol made of egg boxes, mongo beans, water bottles, tissue rolls and pine cones. Third Prize went to Ms. Marissa Isbilir, Ms. Cetin Isbilir and Ms. Imee Burlaza. They created a star-shaped parol made of old colored brochures, magazines and adorned with tiny lights.
The three top parols were awarded with cash prizes of 750 Turkish liras, 500 Turkish liras and 250 Turkish liras respectively.
A special prize was given to Melizza S. Flores, Donna Torralba and Felisa S. Flores for being the first group to submit a parol. They crafted their parol using colorful plastic shopping bags, ice drop sticks and colored straws. All the other participants were given certificates of appreciation and bags of goodies.
After the announcement of the winners, everyone gathered at the Embassy garden to sing “Let there be Peace on Earth” and start the countdown for lighting the parols. Once the countdown ended, the parols were simultaneously lit and the songs “Ang Pasko ay Sumapit,” “Pasko Na Naman,” and “Sa Maybahay asng Aming Bati” were sung. Candies were also thrown in the air for goodluck.
After the festivities ended, guests were served snacks and light refreshments. END