Barangay Tablon won the P200,000 first prize in this year's "Christmas Village Around the World," a contest wherein participating barangays create a Christmas village of the country assigned to them, with the centerpiece being the country's landmark.

 

Following the champion barangay, which depicted a stunning village surrounding the Brandenburg Gate in Germany, were Barangay Carmen (United Kingdom) in second place and Barangay Camaman-an (Brazil) in third place, receiving P150,000 and P100,000, respectively. Each of the winning barangays also received a trophy.

 

According to Barangay Tablon's concept designer, Rene Sabanpan, he was able to put together the Christmas village after an extensive research on the culture of Germany, specifically the houses in the said country.

"I envisioned kung paano ko i-put up yung Christmas village from the landmark up to the village," Sabanpan said.

 

Sabanpan, who has been participating in ‘Pasko de Oro’ competitions for more than four years as the concept designer for ‘Paskorela’, said he could easily put together their Christmas village because he's been setting up his own Christmas village at their home.

 

"Nagvi-villaging ako sa bahay kaya alam ko ang set up, saan ilagay yung mga lights, paano i-hide ang lights. Kaya hindi naging mahirap, yung concept ko lang kung anong gusto kong ipalabas sa entry ko," Sabanpan said.

Barangay Tablon's entry is composed of a small-scale village surrounding the Brandenburg Gate from both sides. It has a commercial area, train stations, and wind mills situated at the top.

 

"Sa baba yung mga commercial areas. Makikita mo may police station, fire station, kasi ang village is not completed without the facilities. Village yan, from churches, hospitals, hindi lang bahay makikita mo if you're going to explore," Sabanpan said.

 

A total of 11 barangays participated in the said competition, namely: Barangays Cugman (USA), Camaman-an (Brazil), Brgy. 17 (Mexico), Consolacion (Singapore), Puntod (Australia), Iponan (France), Carmen (United Kingdom), Gusa (Spain), Patag (Switzerland), Macasandig (India), and Tablon (Germany).

 

The entry of each of the above-mentioned barangays were displayed at the city's Plaza Divisoria. (JAS-CIO/Photos by Rod Constantino-CIO)