Winners of INQUIRER.net Father’s Day photo contest relive special moments with dad

MANILA, Philippines – A vacation to make up for a father’s time away from his family and the very last dance a daughter had with her father.

These were among the treasured memories captured in winning photographs of “One Happy Father’s Day” photo contest put up by INQUIRER.net in coordination with Robinson’s Retail Stores.

A Post-Valentine’s Day Trip

Jamel Tabao Mamutuk was on a much deserved vacation with his family back in February when his wife decided to take a photo of him and his only daughter, Alan Nageena Arumpac Mamutuk, playing by Sabang Beach in Puerto Princesa City. He said that picture taken by his wife Aelan Arumpac was of him and his daughter as they sat on a tree trunk that lay on the beach while waiting for their guides to an underground river trip.

Jamel, who works for the Commission on Audit’s Region 11 office in Davao City, had to skip a Valentine’s Day celebration with his wife and daughter because of a business trip to Japan. He said that the trip was his way of making up for lost time.

He said that he had been in the office days after the trip and became inspired when he saw INQUIRER.net’s Facebook account on the contest.

“I follow INQUIRER.net’s twitter account and saw a tweet on entries to the contest… I was inspired when I saw the photos.”

But more than showing to the world that he loved his daughter very much, he said that it was more important to him that his daughter felt that love.

“[It was] not important to show it to others but I was inspired and I wanted to inspire others.”
Theirs was the photo which won first place in the contest.

Last dance with Dad

It was Joanna League’s wedding and she was on the dance floor with the first man she had ever loved Jose Ramon Pimentel Jr., her father. The picture topped those picked out by photographers as their choice.

“Dad and I danced – more like swayed, because we were both crying non-stop, to the song ‘I Loved You First’. Dad and I had been crying from the moment I walked down the aisle,” she recalled.

It was not only memorable because it was on her wedding but also because it had been, literally, the last dance she had with him.

Joanna said she saw the photo contest as an “opportunity to share and to inspire.”

“Our last dance had literally been our very last dance, which makes it extra special for me,” said Joanna, remembering her father as a man who “had been a father to all and was loved by many.”

Her father died 10 months after that day.

Jamel and Joanna’s photos were just two of those who were picked out as winners from all the entries that were judged based on the number of ‘likes’ they received on the contest’s page on Facebook – (60%), creativity (20%), and emotional impact (20%).