BACOLOD CITY – Every time Christmas season would draw near, 17-year old Raymark Villanueva would secretly wish for the greatest gift that he is yet to receive: to meet his parents and feel their love.

Raymark was barely three years old when a parish worker brought him to the Bacolod Boys’ Home Foundation where he had been cared for until now. No one knows if Raymark’s wish will ever come true. But he is nonetheless happy because Bacolod Boys’ Home gave him the family that he never had. The institution provided for Raymark’s basic needs, including the guidance and care that every young boy needs.

Raymark is one of the 167 children and youth from four different institutions of charity based in Bacolod City who became the 10th day beneficiaries of the Philippine Amusement and Gaming Corporation’s “Pamaskong Handog ng PAGCOR 2011: 25 Days of Christmas, 25 Years of PAGCOR” nationwide gift-giving project.

Apart from the Bacolod’s Boys’ Home Foundation, the state-run gaming firm also picked the Bacolod Girls’ Home Foundation, a shelter for neglected and orphaned girls; the Holy Infant Nursery Foundation, a shelter for abandoned babies while they are being prepared for adoption; and the Holy Family Home Bacolod Foundation, which protects and rehabilitates abused girls.

PAGCOR played Santa Claus to the wards of these institutions by giving them gift packs containing toiletries and food items. It also fulfilled the foundations’ wish for Christmas, which includes computers, printers, electric fans, karaoke set, DVD player, digital camera, sacks of rice, sugar, milk and diapers. The gifts were turned over to the foundations during the Christmas party held at the Casino Filipino – Bacolod Amphitheater on December 4, 2011.

PAGCOR Director Eric Nuguid, Assistant VP for Information Technology Albert Villarama, Casino Filipino Bacolod General Manager Dario Cordero and Branch Manager Estrella Luz Cabebe led the distribution of gifts to the beneficiaries.

According to Fr. John Cardinal, Executive Director of the Bacolod Boys’ Home Foundation, it is not easy to care for the boys with different backgrounds but loving them with kindness is the only way to make the boys feel that they too, are important. Besides shelter, the Bacolod Boys’ Home Foundation also provides its wards with education, food, values formation and the love that their families were not able to give them.

Fr. Cardinal said people who need other people are the luckiest. “We all need each others to lighten our load. Living together makes life easier to bear. We express our gratitude to government agencies like PAGCOR for reaching out to the less privileged. May you be greatly blessed so you can continue to bless other people’s lives as well.”

Ellen Lagtapon, Executive Director of the Bacolod Girls’ Home Foundation, also expressed her gratitude to PAGCOR for reaching out to the girls under their care.“We appreciate your evident concern to the marginalized girls in Bacolod City. You inspire us to continue doing our best for them,” she said.

The Bacolod Girls’ Home Foundation also provides shelter, food, education and care to neglected and orphaned young girls from Bacolod City and its neighboring towns until they finish secondary education. After finishing high school, the girls are either reintegrated to their relatives or are given the opportunity to attend college through benefactors and guardians.

Aside from the neglected boys and girls, PAGCOR also reached out to the orphans and abandoned babies at the Holy Infant Nursery Foundation, Inc. and the abused girls at the Holy Family Home Bacolod Foundation, Inc.

Delia Ediltrudes Locsin, Director of the Holy Infant Nursery Foundation, said the computer, digital camera and other office equipment they received from PAGCOR will greatly help them in facilitating the adoption of the babies under their care. “We hope that this will not be the first time that we will receive gifts and donations from PAGCOR.”

During the gift-giving event, Casino Filipino Bacolod Branch Manager Estrella Luz Cabebe reiterated that the gift-giving project exemplifies PAGCOR’s tradition of giving, not only during Christmas time but also throughout the year. “This year, we wanted to make this tradition more special by celebrating it for 25 days, which symbolizes PAGCOR’s25 years of giving and sharing,”she said.

The conduct of PAGCOR’s Pamaskong Handog in Bacolod City was made more colorful with the special numbers presented by each institution. The Musikat Pop Singing Group from the University of St. La Salle and the employees of Casino Filipino Bacolod were also present to make the event more festive.

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