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The Manila Times and The Manila Times College
announced the winners of their first national essay writing contest.
Students and out-of-school youth
contestants were invited to write on the theme, “What would it
take for the Philippines to be a developed country?” between
September 1 and December 15, 2007. The contest had two categories,
Category A for contestants age 12 to 15 years old and Category B for
those 16 to 20 years old.
Winners in Category A are: first
prize, “Paper Boat Dreams” by Mary Kathleen Loyola of the
Philippine Science High School—Main Campus; second prize,
“Making Our Move Today” by Kamille Samantha Sipalay, Pasig City
Science High School; and third prize, “The Road to Improvement”
by Lorraine Elizabeth Tan, St. Jude Catholic School in Manila.
In Category B, the winners are:
first prize, “Eating Elephants” by Eleonor Balaquiao of Ateneo
de Naga; second prize, “The Philippines in Perspective” by
Alison Grace Bayle, Saint Theresa’s College of Quezon City; and
third prize, “In Caecorum Regno, Regnat Strabo” (In the Kingdom
of the blind, the cross-eyed reigns) by Francis Gabriel Manalon
Pacheco, University of Santo Tomas.
The winners will receive their
awards in ceremonies to be held at The Manila Times College on
February 22, 2008.
The winning entries came from
more than 350 entries that qualified—158 in category A and 180
entries in category B. There were 113 female contestants and 45 male
contestants in Category A, while there were 98 female contestants
and 92 male contestants in Category B.
Contestants in Category A came
from 48 schools, while those in Category B came from 73 schools.
Contestants came from as far in the north as St. Louis University in
Tuguegarao, Cagayan, to as far in the south as Sulu State College in
Sulu. There were 22 entries disqualified for not abiding by the
rules.
The board of judges was composed
of Dr. Fe Hidalgo, former officer in charge of the Department of
Education; Rony Diaz, a Palanca awardee and former publisher of The
Times; and National Artist, Dr. Bienvenido Lumbera. They decided to
pick not only one winner in each category as originally planned by
the sponsors, but chose a second and third prize in each category.
The competition was sponsored by
The Real Bank. Jose Araullo, bank president, said he believes
positive values such as frugality, simple living and hard work have
to be inculcated in the youth. He believes these will make them
effective participants in the country’s development.
All the winning entries will be
published in The Sunday Times, the Sunday edition of The Times, on
February 24, 2008.
--M.E. Corazon J. Jazmines
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