Coca-Cola Red Hot Prizes: What a Great Blessing!

     "This is the day the Lord has made; let us rejoice and be glad in it." (Psalm 118:24)

     Every 1^st May of the year brings to mind a memory of how great the love of God is for my family. It refreshes the fervour of our gratitude for the compassion of the Lord in answering our prayers and His generosity in providing our needs. He is faithful in His promise when He said, “Seek ye first the Kingdom of God and His righteousness, and all these things will be given to you….” (Matthew 6:33)

     Coca-Cola had a raffle promo called the “Red Hot Prizes” during the summer of year 1997. The prizes at stake then had really caught my attention. A couple of months before its first bi-weekly draw, there were rumors that the company I was working with would be laying off employees due bankruptcy. The situation caused uncertainties and worries to my family. My wife and I have just been married for about more than a year without savings and still without a house and lot of our own.  Compounding the anxieties within us, my wife was on a delicate condition being pregnant with our second baby with just a couple of months gap after having delivered our first baby.

     The Coca-Cola raffle promo sparked hope in my innermost being. The raffle promo required 5 pieces of the sofdrinks tansan in any combination as proof of purchase placed inside a white letter envelope with the participant’s name, address, contact number, and signature. There was no limit as to the number of entries a participant may send. I cried to God in fervent prayer with a supplication begging Him to let me win the grand prize for the sake of my family especially for my babies. I offered acts of sacrifices even to the point of humiliations. I remember picking and gathering tansans or crowns from garbage receptacles left by vendors in bus and jeep terminals oftentimes with sputum as if I was already insane. Many people, including our boarding housemates, who have witnessed what I was doing were laughing at me. Me, a professional (an engineer), doing such a ridiculous thing? But I ignored all the negative remarks/comments; and instead continued to focus in doing what seemed to be a crazy task even walking at night into dangerous areas just to pick up those thrown away crowns. Then patiently I had to wash all the crowns and lay them individually in upright positions for quick drying on the floor inside our bedroom.

     For the scheduled first bi-weekly draw, I sent more than a hundred entries. Our family prayed over all the entries before dropping them in official drop boxes placed in groceries. To win the grand prize became part of our daily petitions to the Lord as we remained faithful serving Him in our local parish.

     May 1, 1997… the first draw (of 4 bi-weekly draws) for the Visayas Region was held in Cebu City. I stormed heaven with unceasing prayers during that day. God is good and true to His promise. Two days later, the Bacolod Plant Manager of Coca-Cola came looking for me to inform and congratulate because I won the grand prize: a fully loaded Isuzu HiLander vehicle! The amazing thing, I was able to win all the different kind of prizes at stake during the succeeding bi-weekly draws which include an all expenses-paid trip for 4 to Sicogon/Boracay and a special Coca-Cola edition component. And it happened simultaneously with my layoff from job. These wonderful things the Lord had done into my life made me so popular as the results of the raffle draw landed full page in both national and local newspapers. It became a byword among households in our place. All praises and glory be to God.

A souvenir pose with my prize displayed at the BAYS Center, Bacolod City Public Plaza

With movie actor Randy Santiago during the awarding of prizes in Bacolod City.... May 15, 1997

A free trip in Sicogon....

A free trip in Boracay....

Winning a special Coca-Cola edition component....

A Valentine's Date We'll Always Remember (With TobleronePilipinas)

"Say It Sweeter With Toblerone"... That's the theme of the facebook Valentine's promo/contest of TobleronePilipinas last year. I have been so blessed by the Lord to have won the grand prize in that contest. It's Valentine's season again and it feels great to reminisce the sweet victory and all the events of the road trip prize package worth P50,000.00 (but the actual expenses incurred reached more than P70,000.00 and still shouldered by the sponsor Kraft Foods Philippines, Inc.) which I have won. I am reposting below my winning entry in the said promo/contest with some additional pictures taken during the Road Trip to Hundred Islands in Pangasinan, Baguio City, Iloilo City where my 3 children competed for the National Finals of the MTG Math Challenge, and Bacolod City in Negros Occidental (my wife's home province):

A Valentine's Date We'll Always Remember ( by: Vicente I. Ferrer)

This year 2012 marks our 17th year of marriage. Me and my wife are blessed with three (3) children. A Valentine's Date during the love month of February remains a dream date that has never been realized since our children got into school. Our mind, effort, and time have been focused on the upbringing of our children especially on their education. Besides, our financial difficulties constrains us that we cannot celebrate such occasion anymore. Thus we are grateful to TobleronePilipinas for launching this promo in which we can participate and have a chance to win an all-expenses paid Valentine's Date that will give realization to our dream date.
Our dream Valentine's Date (with our 3 kids, of course) will start very early in the morning on February 13, 2012 at 4:30 A.M. A hired vehicle will fetch and take us to our first destination: Hundred Islands, Alaminos City, Pangasinan. We will eat our breakfast in a fast food restaurant along the way and upon arrival enjoy the rest of the morning at the beach relaxing and comforting ourselves away from the city crowd. Oh, how we love swimming in the beach's pristine waters. The delicious local foods that will be served for our lunch at 11:30 A.M. will be a delight. We will then have more bonding moments as we stroll at the beach then go on boat riding for a complete tour of the scattered islands in the renowned place. It will surely be a lot of fun, a great and memorable experience as we will have picture takings for mementos with our digital camera to end our date in the famous islands before we pack up by 3:00 P.M. for our next destination: Baguio City. As we travel to the summer capital of our country we will have short stopovers to have a view and picture takings on some of the beautiful landmarks or historical places along the way and also to buy some souvenir items/food delicacies. After 2 ½ hours of travel we will check in to the hotel reserved for us then take a rest. At 6:00 P.M. we will have a dinner in a downtown restaurant then go on a short walk in the city at Burnham Park and go back to the hotel to have our early night rest. 
On February 14, 2012 @ 6:30 A.M. we will hear Mass at the Baguio Cathedral then have a breakfast and afterwards proceed to Lourdes Grotto. After the prayerful meditations we will then tour the renowned places in the city such as Camp John Hay, The Mansion, Wright Park, Mines View Park, Baguio Botanical Garden, and the Philippine Military Academy. A sumptuous meal for lunch will highlight our tour.
By 2 o’clock in the afternoon, we will be ready for our trip back to Metro Manila heading to a restaurant for a simple light dinner to complete our Valentine’s Date where I will be presenting to my wife my ultimate surprise gift of our Valentine’s Date: a simple necklace and a family round trip plane ticket to her hometown in Negros as processed by TobleronePilipinas. A kiss to my wife while giving her a bundled flower tied with Toblerone bearing the messages “You’re sweet, I love you, I’m yours” will end up our dinner. 
Finally, at 8:00 P.M... Home, oh sweet home!... “Thank you Lord for this wonderful gift of a free Valentine's Date which we will always remember in our entire lifetime.”
Notes: 1.) Any remaining amount in our Valentine’s Date budget will be donated in the form of a check to the Typhoon Sendong victims thru TobleronePilipinas’ own choice of charitable organization/agency as our way of thanking the Lord for the wonderful date. 2.) The dates specified can be rescheduled.

Awarding at Oceania, SM Mall of Asia with Jake Cuenca as guest celebrity host

Hundred Islands, Alaminos City, Pangasinan

Hundred Islands, Alaminos City, Pangasinan

Baguio Cathedral, Baguio City

                             A video clippings of the Pangasinan and Baguio Road Trip from TobleronePilipinas file here: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=FtJSJcuok1s&feature=share

Arrival at Iloilo Airport, Iloilo City

@ Jaro Cathedral, Iloilo City

@ Sta. Barbara Church, Iloilo City

Panaad Park, Mansilingan, Bacolod City

Family Reunion @ Palaka Norte, Pulupandan, Negros Occidental

Capitol Lagoon, Mandalagan, Bacolod City

Dinner date at Abe's Restaurant in Trinoma, Quezon City for the awarding of bouquets and necklace

The surprise gift for my wife:  a necklace  -  courtesy of TobleronePilipinas

Win Big Prizes

This is updated regularly, keep visiting this site....

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UPCAT 2013 Results Finally Released!

     The long wait is over!... Finally, the results for the 2013 College Admission Tests of the University of the Philippines (UPCAT) is released. You may click this link http://upcat.up.edu.ph/results/index.html to access the official results.

     To my eldest daughter and the rest of the examinees who passed the UPCAT 2013, Congratulations... May you use your God-given talents/skills to help unite and build our nation. You are now called as "Iskolar ng Bayan"!

Brooks Running Shoes: Everyone's Dream Shoes

     Brooks Running Shoes Philippines is not just a shoe company. It showcases various apparel and gears related to sports. It’s not meant to be an ordinary shoe store because the products are of superior quality. This I discovered in my first encounter with Brooks Running Shoes Philippines when I joined its “Win Shoes at Brooks Store SM North Annex” promo.  The promotion required a participant to guess the correct number of Brook shoes hidden in their photo wall. First two participants to submit online the correct answer will win Brooks shoes. And to guess it, of course, one has to go to their store located at the 3^rd level of SM Annex in SM CITY North EDSA. I got the opportunity to drop by the store when my wife and I went to watch a movie at SM Cinema, North EDSA.                 

                                                                                                      

     
     The first thing that attracts customers passing by the store is the "Running Lab." It is a technically advanced system with a footprint scanner that determines one’s foot type and stride and with a high-speed video gait analysis to recommend the right shoes for a customer. One can’t resist the temptation to stop and take a closer look at the equipment or simply go inside to better appreciate what the store has to offer. 

          

     

   Upon seeing the shoes displayed, I began dreaming to have a Brooks shoes for myself. Counting the many Brooks shoes at the photo wall for the promo, I was confident that I guessed it correctly: 119 shoes! Unfortunately, there were many participants who already submitted the correct answer. Good thing the promo was extended with a raffle for consolation prizes. Luckily, praise and thanks be to God, I won a consolation prize worth 1.5K:  a sports shirt and a power grip... And the Brooks shoes remains a dream! Someday, somehow, I believe I'll be able to own one. 

                                                                           
           

                

  

     The price is just right if one is looking for comfort and durability. True to its motto “Run Happy,” Brooks shoes is a perfect running shoes that makes a serious runner happy. For more information, visit their website at brooksrunning.com.ph or follow on twitter (@brooksrunning) and on facebook https://www.facebook.com/brooksrunningPH?fref=ts

The items (sports shirt and power grip) I won from the Brooks shoes promo

                                      

             

   

USTET Results for AY 2013-2014 Released

     The long wait is over for the examinees who have long been waiting for the results of the University of Santo Tomas Entrance Test which will admit them to the oldest existing university in Asia. My eldest daughter who is also one of the hopefuls arrived home with the news that the USTET results for AY 2013-2014 are already posted at the campus. The online result, however, is yet to be posted on January 28, 2013. So for those who are too excited and cannot wait anymore for the online revelation may go directly to the main campus in Manila.

     Of the top 4 universities which my daughter had taken a college entrance test, only UST had given orientation to the parents during the examination day while waiting for their children to finish the test. The university presented a slide show with a question and answer portion to give parents a clear understanding of the process of its screening and a glimpse of what is going to happen once their children are admitted.

     Good luck to all the examinees, including my daughter. May your dream of enrolling to a university which gives a high quality Catholic education be realized and help build the Filipino nation.

 

Life is Useless

     I realize life is useless, indeed, as I reflect on the passages of the Book of Ecclesiastes. What is the use of working so hard in accumulating wealth? What for?... It is enough to have something for my family and save for my future. But I think it's too much to have something that deprive others around me the opportunity to live a decent kind of life. After all, when the time comes for me to leave this world and join my Creator I will not be able to carry or bring anything with me, not even a single cent. And those whom I leave behind, am I sure that they will be taking care of the things I worked so hard and treasured most in the same manner that I do? They might even be fighting against each other (even to the point of killing!) to gain possession or ownership of whatever wealth or properties left behind. Fortunately, I do not have any material wealth to boast of and leave behind but the good moral values and knowledge that I have imparted to my own children: real lifetime treasures which no one can steal from  them! To have that real happiness in eternity should be one's goal in life. And this I believe is our true purpose in life. In one instant, our life may be taken away. Where to our life be in eternity? The choice is in our hands. 

     Now let's read and reflect on the following passages from Ecclesiastes 1:1 - 3:15....

     These are the words of the Philosopher, David's son, who was king in Jerusalem.

     It is useless, useless, said the Philosopher. Life is useless, all useless. You spend your life working, laboring, and what do you have to show for it? Generations come and generations go, but the world stays just the same. The sun still rises, and it still goes down, going wearily back to where it must start all over again. The wind blows south, the wind blows north - round and round and back again. Every river flows into the sea, but the sea is not yet full. The water returns to where the river began, and starts all over again. Everything leads to weariness - a weariness too great for words. Our eyes can never see enough to be satisfied; our ears can never hear enough. What has happened before will happen again. What has been done before will be done again. There is nothing new in the whole world. Look, they say, "here is something new!" But no, it has all happened before, long before we were born. No one remembers what has happened in the past, and no one in days to come will remember what happens between now and then.

     I, the Philosopher, have been king over Israel in Jerusalem. I determined that I would examine and study all things that are done in this world.

     God has laid a miserable fate upon us. I have seen everything done in this world, and I tell you, it is all useless. It is like chasing the wind. You can't straighten out what is crooked; you can't count things that aren't there. 

     I told myself, "I have become a great man, far wiser than anyone who ruled Jerusalem before me. i know what wisdom and knowledge really are." I was determined to learn the difference between knowledge and foolishness. But I found out that I might as well be chasing the wind. The wiser you are, the more worries you have; the more you know, the more it hurts. 

     I decided to enjoy myself and find out what happiness is. But i found that this is useless, too. I discovered that laughter is foolish, that treasure does you no good. Driven on by my desire for wisdom, I decided to cheer myself up with wine and have a good time. I thought that this might be the best way people can spend their short lives on earth.

     I accomplished great things. I built myself houses and planted vineyards. I planted gardens and orchards, with all kinds of fruit trees in them; I dug ponds to irrigate them. I bought many slaves, and there were slaves born in my household. I owned more livestock than anyone else who had ever lived in Jerusalem. I also piled up silver and gold from the royal treasuries of the lands I ruled. Men and women sang to entertain me, and I had all the women a man could want. 

     Yes, I was great, greater than anyone else who had ever lived in Jerusalem, and my wisdom never failed me. Anything I wanted, I got. I did not deny myself any pleasure. I was proud of everything I had worked for, and all this was my reward. Then I thought about all that I had done and how hard I had worked doing it, and I realized that it didn't mean a thing. It was like chasing the wind - of no use at all. After all, a king can only do what previous kings have done. 

     So I started thinking about what it meant to be wise or reckless or foolish. Oh, I know, "Wisdom is better than foolishness, just as light is better than darkness. Wise men can see where they are going, and fools cannot." But I also know that the same fate is waiting for us all. I thought to myself, "What happens to fools is going to happen to me, too. so what have I gained from being so wise?" "Nothing." I answered, "not a thing." No one remembers wise men and no one remembers fools. In days to come, we will all be forgotten. We must all die - wise and fool alike. So life came to mean nothing to me, because everything in it had brought me nothing but trouble. It had all been useless; I had been chasing the wind.

     Nothing that I had worked for and earned meant a thing to me, because I knew that I would have to leave it to my successor, and he might be wise, or he might be foolish - who knows? Yet he will own everything I have worked for, everything my wisdom has earned for me in this world. It is all useless. So I came to regret that I had worked so hard. You work for something with all your wisdom, knowledge, and skill, and then you have to leave it all to someone who hasn't had to work for it. It is useless, and it isn't right! you work and worry your way through life, and what do you have to show for it? As long as you live, everything you do  brings nothing but worry and heartache. even at night your mind can't rest. It is all useless.

     The best thing a man can do is eat and drink and enjoy what he has earned. and yet, I realized that even this comes from God. How else could you have anything to eat or enjoy yourself at all? God gives wisdom, knowledge, and happiness to those who please him, but he makes sinners work, earning and saving, so that what they get can be given to those who please him. It is all useless. It is like chasing the wind.

     Everything that happens in this world happens at the time God chooses. He sets the time for birth and the time for death, the time for planting and the time for pulling up, the time for killing and the time for healing, the time for tearing and the time for building. He sets thew time for sorrow and the time for joy, the time for mourning and the time for dancing, the time for making love and the time for not making love, the time for kissing and the time for not kissing. He sets the time for finding and the time for losing, the time for saving and the time for throwing away, the time for tearing and the time for mending, the time for silence and the time for talk. He sets the time for love and the time for hate, the time for war and the time for peace. 

     What do we gain from all our work? I know the heavy burdens that god has laid on us. He has set the right time for everything. He has given us a desire to know the future, but never gives us the satisfaction of fully understanding what he does. So I realized that that all we can do is be happy and do the best we can while we are still alive. All of us should eat and drink and enjoy what we have worked for. It is God's gift.

     I know that everything God does will last forever. You can't add anything to it or take anything away from it. And one thing God does is to make us have reverence for him. Whatever happens or can happen has already happened before. God makes the same thing happen again and again.

     

Ano ba Meron sa PISAY at KISAY?

     Every year, thousands of Grade 6 and Grade 7 students flock to PISAY and KISAY to take the competitive or entrance examinations. Why? What's in PISAY or KISAY that many parents,   like me, are so illusioned to have their children go to these schools?

     Philippine Science High School (or to its students PISAY) and Quezon City Science High School (or KISAY) are the two premiere science high schools in Metro Manila. The schools are known to have very challenging and advanced curriculum in mathematics and sciences that produces the best professionals in the country. They are so advanced in their academic teachings compared to the regular high schools. They are supported by the government and some private sectors. Students who wish to enroll have to undergo tough and competitive examinations making sure that only the best among the cream of the crop of elementary graduating students from various schools in Metro Manila (nationwide, for PISAY) are admitted.

     My youngest child/son took the admission tests in both schools. He failed in PISAY on its one time only examination which selects only 240 among the thousands of examinees in various test centers but am not disappointed  because I know how difficult and tough the competition is. Besides I take the result as God's message for me as I am worried for his safety and his situation in commuting daily to the school if ever he makes it. Fortunately, he passed the 1st screening at KISAY which I actually prefer him to study just in case.

     This morning my son took the 2nd screening in KISAY. I noticed that there are only 21 rooms utilized for the examinations with 36 students each. It means that there are only 756 students who made it to the second level of screening in which they are to take written examinations in Language, Mathematics, and Science. It's not so crowded anymore compared to the first screening wherein thousands of parents and students hustled to get through the dense crowd. And I've heard that only 350 examinees will pass for the 3rd and final screening. The 3-hour examinations this morning is worth the effort exerted and money spent (as most parents enrolled their children in review centers weeks prior to the tests). Having reached this level is already an achievement and a great satisfaction for the parents.

   Definitely, going to PISAY or KISAY is an edge as its alumni yields a high percentage of passing the college entrance examinations as they bound to some of the great universities in the country today like UP, Ateneo, De La Salle, and UST. But parents should not be too obsessed for such reason as to force their children who are not really gifted and inclined in Mathematics and Science subjects to take chances in PISAY and KISAY or their kids might end up in a famous health institution somewhere in Mandaluyong City.

     Students enrolled in PISAY or KISAY doesn't have to worry of tuition fees because it's totally free. PISAY students even receive monthly stipend and if necessary are accorded of free board and lodging. Congratulations to all those who made it in PISAY... and Good luck to all those who are still aspiring (including my son) to make it in KISAY!