Paskong Arriba 2021: Departamental Games, Big Prizes, and the Arriba Fest

John Paul Vidal & Charles Kirby Manuyag

TUESDAY, December 14, 2021 - The Christmas season is just around the corner, the Letran Community virtually celebrated their annual Paskong Arriba aired via Zoom conference and Facebook Live from 9 AM up to 8 PM.

The exciting day started with an institutional advent mass that was led by the mass celebrant Rev. Fr. Clarence Victor Marquez, O.P., commencing an online mass for the upcoming Christmas celebration. It was then followed by the employees’ greetings towards the father Rector and the Letran community.

Truly, the celebration was just starting, but it was already filled with gift-giving, greetings, and showcasing of various talents from the Letran Community.

As the morning session was finished, the afternoon session immediately kicked off with a variety of thrilling activities organized by each department. What’s more, students and pupils can win amazing prizes by just simply participating in the said games and activities.

Moreover, the afternoon celebration started with the game called, “What’s in the Box?” facilitated by Mr. Jeng Pascual of the Elementary and Junior High School Department. The game was simple to understand and as easy as pie. There were also different categories for different grade levels to engage in and win prizes that were provided by the producers.

The Virtual Grand Lotto then finally drove forward, as the facilitators carefully explained the rules that should be followed and observed by the participants; the moderators also presented the different prizes that the audience can be granted if they win. With the exciting prizes, the participants are restless, thrilled, and eager to engage in the Virtual Grand Lotto.

Following the Virtual Grand Lotto is an exhilarating game called, “Virtual Paskong Bring Me”, facilitated by the Library Services Department. The rules regarding the game were simple: just like the, “Bring Me”, game from Face to Face celebrations, the participants must show the mentioned item to their webcams which will be assessed by the moderators, and as usual, winners will be receiving stupefying prizes accordingly.

Continuing, the “Paskong Pinoy Online Ed.” brought by the Senior Highschool Department, with the game hosts Ms. Patricia Janna Ocampo and Mr. Yuan Gabriel Pabalan shared the different games that pupils and students will be playing as well as the amazing prizes for each — to which Letranites looked forward to.

The first game was called, “Misheard Christmas Carols”, which involves a confusing set of words that sound like the lyrics of a famous Christmas song, and participants will be guessing the right and exact lyrics. Later on, the second activity, “Guess the Weight”, is all about predicting and estimating how heavy an item is in grams. The third and final game with “Price is Right'', where the participants must guess the price of an item that could either be expensive or cheap.

Moreover, there were also bonus rounds where the winner will receive either a Brand New Smartwatch or a Brand New Tablet. With the game hosts announcing the winners for each game, the “Paskong Pinoy Online Ed.”, has finally concluded.

For the last and final game-based event of the celebration, the most anticipated game for the day wherein a lot of people registered and participated in, a heart-pounding experience, the “Virtual E-Bingo”. Mr. Kyle Abay-Abay and Ms. Gwyneth Mamuad, were the emcees, and they spelled out the rules and mechanics for the E-Bingo. Whilst the game properly commenced, the participants were as lively as the game hosts while they’re busy stamping the numbers being called out by the emcees. Not just that, but they also organized a simple game similar to, “Bring Me”, but participants were asked to take photos together with the item and post it to their Instagram accounts together with the hashtags and tagging the Letran Student Council’s Instagram account.

However, the virtual Paskong Arriba hasn’t ended there, since the Letran Community also organized an Arriba Fest, where Letranites indeed are eagerly waiting and expecting it.

Mr. Kenneth Aranas, a Letran SHS faculty and the host for the segment, mentioned that Paskong Arriba would not be Paskong Arriba without a concert as he reminded people that Christmas is all about giving and sharing. He then introduced a video of the Christmas ID of the Colegio through which Rev. Fr. Clarence Victor C. Marquez, O.P., had given a heart-warming message relating to God and the Colegio as “Makulay na Pasko”, performed by none other than the Letran Singing Ambassadors.

Mr. Kenneth then extended his deep gratitude and appreciation to everyone for joining the celebration as he passed the floor to Mr. Mitch and Ms. Deah, the master of ceremonies. They introduced a game called, "Guess the Christmas Song”, to which participants can comment their answers through the Zoom conference chatbox and live chat of Facebook Live Stream. A prize of Php 1,000.00 was given to winners who were able to get the correct answer and are the first to do so.

Thereafter, the emcees introduced the highlight of the Arriba Fest as they featured Mr. Adie Garcia and Mr. Arthur Nery, Filipino singers who are known for their hit and relatable songs with millions of streams in the country. Despite Letranites being in their respective homes, utmost feelings of both excitement and kilig were felt across the platform while the virtual program proper.

The first one to perform was Mr. Adie Garcia. With his soothing voice upon singing sad songs, it pierced through the hearts of participants as they shouted their love and feelings through the live chat in Facebook Livestream and chat box in Zoom Conference. He also promoted and sang, "Tahanan", a song with a million streams on Spotify. Participants were as loud and active as view counts went up to 1.7k live viewers.

Proceeding to the last song, Mr. Adie Garcia thanked everyone for being able to be invited to the Paskong Arriba event. He concluded that he’ll refer to Letranites as “Paraluman” for the meantime as he sang his last hit song, "Paraluman".

After his astonishing performance, emcees Mr. Mitch and Ms. Deah conducted a talk-show-like interview with Mr. Adie Garcia. They talked about his inspiration in writing and his heart-felt music as they also praised and thanked him.

Afterwards, the emcees again introduced a game through which participants can win Php 1,000.00 by answering Letran-related questions. Nearing the end, Mr. Arthur Nery then warmly greeted everyone and sang his hit songs after a short break. He also sang, “Binhi”, the very first song that he wrote. Emcees Mitch and Deah once again conducted a talk-show-like interview. They, too, promoted his songs that can be streamed through platforms like Spotify and Youtube.

Moving on with the last part of the program, the "Guess the Riddle" game known as "Bugtong" was held. Nonetheless, due to technical issues, Mr. Arthur Nery once again sang, "Pagsamo", through which participants also expressed their burning feelings and emotions via live chat and chat box.

Formally concluding the program, Mr. Mitch and Ms. Deah greeted everyone with their happiest Christmas, gave their warmest gratitude, and bid goodbye to each other. The anticipated Paskong Arriba might be over already, but Letranites’ Christmas experience would be more delightful as each of them would be enjoying their Christmas vacation with themselves, their families, and friends.

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