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| The winning parol with designer Analoren Torio |
By Vir B. Lumicao
It took Analoren Yadao Torio one month to brainstorm the
design that the United Nueva Vizcayanos submitted as entry in the Consulate’s “PaSTARan
2018” lantern-making competition, and
another month for a dozen group members to execute her concept.
In the end, their patience and attention to detail paid off:
in the judging held on Dec. 24 just before the annual Misa de Aguinaldo in
Chater Garden, the entry was adjudged the grand champion in the contest and awarded
the $5,000 cash prize.
Clinching the first-runner up slot was Samahang Ilokano,
which won $3,000 in cash prize; while Marinduque Group was second runner-up with
$2,000.
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| Ilokanos celebrate their second prize win in the lantern contest |
Torio, from Bayombong, said that she spent a month of sleepless
nights thinking of a winning design using materials never before used in the
lantern competition.
Then it came to her mind to use carton boxes, the ones that
domestic workers lay down on, along pavements and pedestrian walkways in
Central on their days off. How to turn the ubiquitous material into an exemplary
creation was another thing.
Torio decided to peel off a cardboard box to get its
corrugated midrib, then cutting this into thin strips using a photo paper
cutter. Next, using a spaghetti roller, she rolled each strip into tiny rings
that formed an intricate latticework when glued together.
The group used pistachio shells to build a flower garden in
front of the manger where Mary and Joseph were watching over the newborn Jesus,
which they then used as the parol’s centerpiece .
Torio said she and a dozen of her group members put the
lantern together in one month, working about 8 hours each Sunday to finish the
entry. They spent about $300 for the materials, mainly for the glue.
At home, Torio would spend a few more hours tweaking her
work, retouching here and there until she achieved the desired result.
Every detail of the lantern, including its fine lacework, was
so intricately done that the masterpiece kept most beholders in awe.
The judges obviously saw the skill, effort and creativity
that went into the parol that they unanimously adjudged it as the winner.
The first runner-up entry, submitted by the Samahang
Ilokano, was made of about 200 soda cans cut into strips, with the ring pull
tabs and star-shaped cutouts of strips combined to cover the rays of the
Christmas star.
The can bottoms were strung together to form a broken halo
around the star, and in the middle was a Nativity scene.
The designer, Mary Jeane Galicto, said it took four Sundays
for six members of the group to build the lantern.
The group, made up of Ilocanas from the Ilocos provinces,
Cagayan, Isabela, Nueva Vizcaya, Nueva Ecija and Pangasinan, said this was the
first time they joined the contest.
The second runnerup, an entry of the Marinduque Migrant Workers Association, was
made of onion and garlic skins, cut grass stalk, pine cones and ipil-ipil
seeds also meticulously glued together to cover a “parol”.
The contest was sponsored by the Consulate and LBC Hong
Kong.
