February 25, 2012

• Happiest Pinoy!

  Events

  

  Ok so I promised myself to keep out from events and all, but then I know that you would agree with me that this one is worth blogging about.

  So, I went AWOL from my review class (just between breaks and lunch, went back after the event) to attend the Cebu launch of Cebuana Lhuillier's award winning promotional campaign, the Search for the Happiest Pinoy. Pinoy is slang for Filipino, and its an endearing title that we as a people have coined ourselves. Here is an AVP on the search:

  The search aims to promote happiness and to highlight the Filipinos resiliency. I have to admit we have a way of making things light, despite the hardship and the calamity that we experience. This year, the organizers want to see more nominees coming from the masa (the common people), those who despite their having nothing, are still able to inspire others to be happy.

  There are three qualifications for one to be nominated:

  1. A constantly cheerful face and optimistic outlook.

  2. Proven ability to rise above life's challenges.

  3. Positive impact in the lives of others.

  Simple, and I am sure there are plenty of common people out there who possess all these three. A fruit vendor, a traffic police, or a street sweeper. There are many. It is inherent in us Filipinos to be happy and cheerful.

  Deadline for submission of entries have been moved to July and the awarding ceremony will be on August.

  More details and the nomination form can be accessed through the Happiest Pinoy website: http://happiest-pinoy.com.

  Last year, over 200 nominations were made and out of these 10 were selected, most of whom have disabilities that make them so unlikely to be happy, including one who's blind, totally handicapped like that famous atheist physicist, yet she maintains a site on happiness and designs shirts on happiness, not to mention run a charity that aims to help cancer stricken children in a government-run hospital in the Philippines.

  The first happiest pinoy was from my place, Dumaguete, and his name is Winston Maxino, president of an energy company who suffers from ankylosing spondylitis and at the same time has a daughter with Down Syndrome.

  Here's his story:

  Oh, yes, and since we're doing videos, allow me to share with you the radio stint that we recently had over at Bantay Radyo (yep, you can see me here) to promote an entirely different but not totally unrelated event by the Brahma Kumaris with none other than the creator of this wonderful search, Mr. Jonathan Batangan. Mr. Batangan, who happens to be a student of the Brahma Kumaris, talked on "Happiness is a Choice". The interview is in Cebuano so you might not understand it, unless you speak the language

  Before I end this blog, some words of happiness from a press release by the Brahma Kumaris:

  "Happiness is a choice."

  "We all know that, yet there are times that we seem to choose sadness. We think that it is not reasonable to not feel sadness especially in times when there is pain and sorrow. It is just not normal to be happy all the time."

  "But then, this is a misconception that we must correct. It is possible to feel happy even when we are in the middle of a great challenge."

  "True happiness is not about denying the pain and hurts, rather it is about accepting the reason behind those emotions, and realizing that despite the sorrow there will always be something good that would come out of it."

  Photo and video credit: Cebuana Lhuillier and Happiest Pinoy

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