10 December 2015 - The Philippine Consulate General in Macau SAR held the annual “Paskong Pinoy” celebrations with the Filipino community on December 06 at the St. Joseph the Worker Activity Hall at Iao Hon, Macau. More than 500 members of the Filipino community attended the Christmas festivities.

The event started with a Mass at 11:30 am at the St. Joseph the Worker main church followed by a program, which included a caroling and song interpretation contest, as well as a food preparation competition for both main dish and dessert categories. A dozen groups participated in the contests, with Filipino community organization BISDAK bagging the first prize for both song interpretation and caroling contests.

The group Alpha Kitchen took home the grand prize for the main dish category, with their creative rendition of binusog na pusit, a fusion of adobo and stuffed squid seasoned with flavors of sinigang. The Macau Skills Group (MSG) won the grand prize for the dessert category, with their cassava bibingka, which was a crowd favorite. Other groups showcased food from different regions in the Philippines including tupig, puto flan, menudo, humba, leche flan, tiim, and biringhe.

During her opening remarks, Philippine Consul General Lilybeth R. Deapera thanked Batches 23 and 31 of the Leadership and Social Entrepreneurship (LSE) program, the lead organizers of this year’s festivities. The two batches graduated from the 6-month LSE course launched in Macau in 2014 by the Consulate and POLO-Macau in partnership with the Ateneo de Manila University School of Government. Labor Attaché Vivian F. Tornea followed with a speech that expressed the well wishes of Philippine Labor and Employment Secretary Rosalinda Dimapilis-Baldoz.

This is the third edition of the annual Paskong Pinoy celebrations in Macau SAR. The event concluded with raffle draws and the exchange of gifts. END