Friday | December 1, 2017 | 5:30 PM

Almost 700 hearing-impaired students of the Philippine School for the Deaf receive early Christmas gifts during the first day of the PAGCOR’s “Pamaskong Handog 2017”.

Deaf-mute Senior High School student Sean Patrick Dumpa and his schoolmates at the Philippine School for the Deaf (PSD) show their talent in dancing. PSD is the first beneficiary of PAGCOR’s Pamaskong Handog project this year.

PAGCOR employees assist in the distribution of Christmas gift packs during the first day of “Pamaskong Handog 2017”.

As the whole world celebrates the happiest season of the year, the Philippine Amusement and Gaming Corporation (PAGCOR) kicked-off its “Pamaskong Handog 2017” on December 1.

PAGCOR allocated P18.67 million for the annual gift-giving project which aims to spread love and joy to less privileged Filipinos from various charitable institutions nationwide.

On the first day of its annual “Pamaskong Handog” event, PAGCOR reached out to almost 700 deaf-mute students from the Philippine School for the Deaf (PSD) in Pasay City. The students enjoyed a fun-filled party where they received Christmas gift packs containing assorted noche buena items. They were also entertained by actress and celebrity disc jockey Jennifer Lee, who presented a special dance number.

Grade 12 Sean Patrick Dumpa was one of PSD’s students who expressed through sign language how happy he was that PAGCOR chose their school as a beneficiary of this year’s Pamaskong Handog project.

At a glance, no one will think that Patrick has a disability, especially since he excels in a lot of areas of discipline including ballroom dancing, cooking and volleyball. He has already brought so much honor to PSD by winning in several inter-school and division competitions.

But coming from a dysfunctional family and whose siblings are also deaf-mute, Patrick’s simple wish for Christmas was to be able have a joyful celebration and receive simple gifts from kind-hearted individuals or organizations.  “Simple lang po ang dalangin ko – ang makatanggap kami ng mga regalo at magkaroon ng kaunting kasiyahan para maging masaya ang pagdiriwang namin ng Kapaskuhan. Masayang-masaya po ako na nagkaroon ito ng katuparan,” the 19-year-old Senior High School student gestured.

PSD’s Officer-in-Charge Rosalie Condez said it was not the first time that PAGCOR hosted a Christmas celebration for people with disability (PWD). “When I was the head of the Philippine National School for the Blind (PNSB) in 2012, PAGCOR also organized a Pamaskong Handog event for our visually-impaired students,” she said.

“I’m truly blessed to once again witness the generosity and kindness of PAGCOR by giving children with disabilities a truly meaningful Christmas celebration through this gift-giving activity. I pray and hope that PAGCOR will continue this project in the coming years,” Condez added.

Founded in 1907, PSD was formerly known as the School for the Deaf and Blind and is the pioneer school for the handicapped in the Philippines and in Asia. It is a semi-residential school and the only government-owned institution for the deaf in the country.

Meanwhile, PAGCOR Chairman and CEO Andrea Domingo said the agency’s annual gift-giving tradition continues to make Christmas merrier for the underprivileged sectors of society. “In our own little way, we would like to put smiles on the faces of our less-fortunate brothers and sisters this Christmas season. I believe that there is no better way to do it than sharing our blessings through this Pamaskong Handog activity,” she said.

PAGCOR’s Pamaskong Handog program began in 2010. This year, over 14,000 individuals from 38 charitable institutions nationwide were chosen as recipients of the gift-giving program. Among this year’s beneficiaries are the PWDs, orphaned and abandoned children, senior citizens, street sweepers and garbage collectors, indigenous peoples, urban poor and the children or relatives of military personnel who were either killed in action or incapacitated from combat.

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