Kasafi announces Ati-Ati poster making contest winners
BY BOY RYAN B. ZABAL

KALIBO, Aklan – Two high school students bagged the top prizes in the On-the-Spot Ati-Ati Poster Making Contest sponsored by the Kalibo Sto. Nino Ati-Atihan Foundation, Inc. (Kasafi) on Saturday.

Kasafi chairman Albert Menez said 16-year old Mary Kristelyn Blas from Regional Science High School (RSHS) for Region VI got the grand prize of P10,000 for her award winning entry depicting the decades-old celebration of the Ati-Atihan festival.

Marc Jimley Crispino, a 15-year old high school student of RSHS for Region VI, placed second for P3,000.

Bannered by the theme, “Ro Ati-Ati it Kalibo,” the annual poster making contest attracted 73 high school and college students and out-of-school youth, aged 20 years and below.
“The poster-making contest was held as one of the activities of the upcoming Ati-Atihan festival in honor of Senor Sto. Nino come January next year,” he said.

Menez said the poster entry of Blas will be featured in the Kalibo Ati-Atihan festival souvenir program and other promotional materials of Kasafi.

Other winners were 16-year old Paolo Magno of Garcia College of Technology, who received P2,000 for third place, and 19-year old Ryan Bolivar of the Aklan State University-College of Industrial Technology (ASU-CIT) and Winsis Leo Sison, 18, of Garcia College of Technology for the consolation prizes.

Bolivar and Sison received P1,000 each from Kasafi while 18-year old special child Ricardo Tiongson Jr. of Kalibo Integrated School got a special prize from Kasafi chairman Menez and Kasafi vice president Jemina Trinidad.

The board of judges were Cecilia Sumra Rojo, John-John Arevalo, Ma. Delia Ibesate, Archt. Jose Dureza and Archt. Ramon Duena, Jr.

The judges evaluated the entries according to four main criteria: creativity, lay-out and composition, relevance to the theme and color combination.

Kalibo mayor William Lachica and vice mayor Madeleine Regalado awarded the winners with cash prizes during the awarding ceremony at the Kasafi office.

All contestants also received certificate of participation from Kasafi and the local government unit of Kalibo. Since last year, the contest served as venue for local artists to express their creativity and talents.

Schools participation

This year, twenty-one schools participated in the Ati-Ati poster making contest, among others, Aklan National High School for Arts and Trades (ANHSAT), Marian High School, Northwestern Visayan Colleges, Linabuan National High School, Aklan State University-CIT, New Washington National Comprehensive School, Aklan Catholic College, Infant Jesus Academy, Wadeford School and Infant Jesus School.
Other schools were Our Lady of Fatima (Dao, Capiz), University of the Philippines in the Visayas (Miag-ao campus), Kalibo Integrated Schools, STI College Kalibo, Sto. Nino Seminary, Ochando National High School, Dela Cruz Institute of Business and Industry, Aklan State University-College of Fisheries and Marine Sciences (New Washington, Aklan), Garcia College of Technology, Aklan State University-Banga and Regional Science High School for Region VI.