Two Anvils for ‘Salapi’

An early Christmas gift of sorts came my way last Friday during the 50th Anvil Awards held at the Grand Ballroom of Marriott Hotel Manila. Caloy Apuhin, senior manager and assistant vice-presidnet of the Bank of the Philippine Islands (BPI) branch at Mango (or Gen. Maxilom Avenue) hinted at it when he told me to prepare to attend the event.  The book, “Salapi: The Numismatic Heritage of the Philippines,” which I co-authored with Caloy, together with photography by Fr. Jun Rebayla, SVD last year for BPI was a finalist in this year’s awards.

I was willing to concede the Silver Anvil Award trophy for the book, in itself already a hugely prestigious trophy given by the Public Relations Society of the Philippines (PRSP), which has been running the Anvil Awards annually since 1965. Up until the awarding itself, Caloy and I had no idea what awaited us. Neither did our project manager, Randy Maranan, the executive director of BPI Foundation when we worked on the book who had since become senior vice-president for human resources at BPI.

All we knew was that current BPI Foundation head Faye Corcuera, who nominated the book and the BPI retirement preparatory program called “Navigator”, had been informed that both nominations made it to the finals.

I was pleasantly surprised when Korina Sanchez, the event’s host, announced that our book had won the Gold Anvil for Publications in the coffee table book category.  (I think two others got the gold as well, one for an advertising campaign and another for a multi-media publication.)

All the while, I was having difficulty relaxing my neck with a bow tie on. The invitation required that we wore dapper suits in the style of “The Great Gatsby”, which was the theme for the evening’s event, complete with entertainment provided for by Resorts World Manila.  My bow tie problem was compounded by my neck which, for some reason, has an unusually large circumference preventing me from eve buttoning the collar part of any shirt I wear.

Somehow I managed to actually button my collar that night. But the tightness on my neck plus the nerve-wracking wait to determine what award awaited us was taking a toll on me when we stood on the huge lighted stage to accept the Gold Anvil.

Thus, when we had returned to our seats after accepting the award and after the Silver Anvil had been given to BPI for “Navigator,” I decided to take my leave. I was already standing to leave, bow tie in hand with a now-relaxed shirt collar, when someone from the events organizer approached us and told those of us at two tables, all with BPI officers and guests, not to leave since there was one more award for us.

This turned out to be the Platinum Anvil, awarded only this year and the equivalent of the Grand Anvil of past years.

I was almost floored. All the research, including the debates and heated exchanges that eventually led to the book in just six months had been finally crowned with Anvils, and not just one but two at that!

Let me reiterate therefore our thanks to all who made Salapi possible:  BPI and BPI Foundation; the collectors and auction houses who shared their resources; Ginny Cruz and the curatorial staff of the Bangko Sentral Money Museum; the University of San Carlos Library; the American Numismatics Society; the Cebuano Studies Center; Ms. Humaida Jumalon, daughter of the late Julian Jumalon, Museo Sugbo, Jimmy Sy of Museo Parian sa Sugbu; and the Philippine National Archives.

For those who wish to obtain limited edition copies of Salapi, kindly visit Caloy (and have him sign your copy too) at the BPI Mango/Maxilom Avenue branch.

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Let me invite everyone to the opening of the Kaplag 2015 archival exhibition at the ground floor of the new wing of Ayala Center Cebu this coming Saturday, April 25 at 3 p.m. The exhibition, entitled “Kaplag: Panaglambigit sa Katawhan ug Kultura,” features 24 panels telling the story of the finding of the Sto. Niño, the people’s devotion and the church structure built in the 1700s to house the miraculous image.