Mobility: 17th Auto Focus People’s Choice Awards

ONLINE PUBLIC POLL NOW OPEN

Organized by Sunshine Television (STV), and led by its Chairman/ CEO and motoring media personality Ray Butch Gamboa, the Auto Focus People’s Choice Awards (AFPCA) is a premier motoring industry merit program that seeks to determine the Philippines’ most popular automobile brands and models via an annual public poll. The awards program features Model and Automobile of the Year honors for sedans, SUV/crossovers, sports cars, vans/MPVs, and pickups in separate Standard and Premium/Luxury classes. 2021 marks the 17th annual undertaking of this unique poll, the only one of its kind in the country.

“Thankfully, this year’s edition of the AFPCA has launched without the uncertainties and challenges that faced us in March last year with the onset of the present COVID pandemic and strict lockdown conditions about to be imposed throughout the Philippines.” STV’s Gamboa exclaimed.

“Looking back at that point in time, we actually considered putting the program on hold. The business prognosis for the motoring industry in the forthcoming months appeared grim, and no one knew how and when the worsening crisis would end. So, the most important question STV and the organizing committee had to tackle was: Would the AFPCA continue to benefit the car industry and its customers during the period? The group saw this in a positive light and we went for the green light. I can now openly declare, without any doubt whatsoever that I’m happy the AFPCA streak remained intact, and that the 2020 experience subsequently gave us new and valuable insights that are being applied this year.”

A new development pertinent to the AFPCA Rules and Guidelines will come into play this year. Gerry Aquino, Chairman of the AFPCA Awards Committee, and Gamboa reviewed in more depth the essence and value of being enshrined in the AFPCA Hall of Fame.

Over the past 16 years, only a handful of models have gained such elite status. Among the chosen few are the Isuzu Crosswind; Hyundai Grand Starex; Toyota Camry; Toyota Innova; Mitsubishi Montero Sport; Toyota HiAce; Toyota Fortuner; Toyota Hilux; Nissan Navara; Lexus IS350; Lexus RS350; and Toyota Alphard in the Model of the Year Hall of Fame. The Automobile of the Year Hall of Fame counts two honorees: the Toyota Vios and the Toyota Fortuner.

Aquino clarified: “The rules imply that this rare, hard-to-attain award of excellence has elevated winners to the pinnacle of their respective model categories, and therefore, further recognition is no longer unnecessary. Well and good, perhaps, but several factors now require us to re-think this particular rule.” The key considerations were: One, most of the Hall of Fame models are still concurrent, which is testimony to their continuing popularity. Two, the AFPCA is based on people’s choices and votes, and therefore, why will a model the public still prefers be excluded from the Official Entry List simply by virtue of its Hall of Fame status? Three, if a model truly deserves to win, why deprive it of this privilege when it’s still out there in the market competing with other contenders? And lastly, the more complete the Official AFPCA Entry List is, the more credible the voting results and scores will become. With these in mind, the organizers opted to return all Hall of Fame models into voting circulation and again become eligible for Model and Automobile of the Year awards.”

“I believe that this will in no way diminish the prestige of the elite status these models have already earned, and that lofty position can only be embellished by further honors that may they may attain,” Gamboa concurred.

The public may participate in the online poll of the 2021-2022 Auto Focus People’s Choice Awards. To go to the AFPCA Voting Page, please click on this link https://autofocus.com.ph/ afpca2021/. Participants may vote every day and can register as many as 5 daily choices each in the separate Standard and Premium/Luxury categories from June 1 to November 30, 2021.