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By Shylynne D. Castillo, Special
to The Manila Times
Students from the Philippine
Science High School Main Campus and Ateneo de Naga topped the 2007
National Essay-Writing Competition organized by The Manila Times and
The Manila Times College.
The essay, “Paper Boat
Dreams,” by Mary Kathleen Loyola, a third-year student at the
Philippine Science, won first place in category A for contestants
between 12 and 15 years old. In category B for contestants age 16 to
20, Eleonor Balaquiao, a graduating student at Ateneo de Naga, won
with her entry, “Eating Elephants.”
Nearly 350 entries from 115
schools nationwide were submitted to the contest, which was
sponsored by Real Bank.
Contestants were asked to write
on the theme, “What would it take for the Philippines to become a
developed country?” said Dr. Fe Hidalgo during the awarding
ceremonies at The Manila Times College on Friday. She was the acting
secretary of the Department of Education and chairman of the
competition’s board of judges. She is now president of The Manila
Times Educational System.
“I wish to congratulate the
winners here, and I must say that it was very refreshing to note the
bright ideas of our youth of the country, their dreams for the
country and their vision of this country’s future—a developed
country,” she said in a prepared message.
“To those who did not win but
participated, I also congratulate you because your participation
indicates your love for this country beyond the competition in the
essay writing,” she added.
The winners received cash prizes
and gifts. The top winner of each category will be published in The
Sunday Times, the Sunday edition of The Manila Times. The judges
selected six winners in all, three from each category. The entries
of the other winners will also be published in The Times next week.
After Loyola in category A, the
entry of Kamille Samantha Sipalay of Pasig City Science High School,
“Making our move today,” won second place. Third place went to
Lorraine Elizabeth Tan of St. Jude Catholic School in Manila, with
her essay, “The road to improvement.”
In category B, Alison Grace Bayle
of St. Theresa’s College of Quezon City won second place with her
entry, “The Philippines in perspective.” Third place went to
Francis Gabriel Manalon Pacheco of the University of Santo Tomas,
with his essay “In the kingdom of the blind, the cross-eyed
reigns.”
Like current events, the problem
of corruption was a major theme in most of the entries.
In her essay, Balaquaio wrote,
“In the struggle for development, what this country needs is a
revolution. No, not a violent overthrow of the government but rather
a movement in the name of liberation from one of the biggest
barriers to development—a misguided sense of values.”
In addition to Hidalgo, the other
judges were Rony Diaz, vice-chairman of The Manila Times College
board of trustees and a Palanca awardee, and Dr. Bienvenido Lumbera,
National Artist for Literature.
“It was regrettable that in a
competition, only a few have to be selected as winners,” said
Dante “Klink” Ang 2nd, president and chief executive officer and
executive editor of The Times. He added that the caliber of the
writing was high, and because of that, many more than those few
selected actually deserve to be winners.
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