67th carlos palanca memorial awards for literature winners

In the Philippines, September usually heralds the special announcement of a select group of people who will be receiving some special recognition. This is the Carlos Palanca Memorial Awards for Literature, and as celebrated yesterday evening, at the Manila Peninsula Makati, it is on its 67th year.

And what a wonderful night of literature and like minds, especially to my friends who won! Shout out to Jesus and Glenn, and to my batch-mates in the Silliman Writers Workshop (47th batch, Katsubongs represent!)—Dustin, Noelle, Tokwa, and Igor! I was supposed to submit my manuscript but I forgot the deadline. Petty excuse, I know. Next time, I will make sure I have set my alarm. Here are the winners:

***

KABATAAN DIVISION

KABATAAN SANAYSAY
1st Prize: NO WINNER
2nd Prize: Carmel Joy F. Vergara, Patlang
3rd Prize: Robyn Therese V. Jocom, Sungkitin Pabalik ang Nakalipas

KABATAAN ESSAY
1st Prize: Alpheus Matthew D. Llantero, The Adventure of an Alien and the Matalino Kid
2nd Prize: Pauline Sherice Wee, Culture Redefined
3rd Prize: Marielle Fatima B. Tuazon, The Pursuit of Lucidity

***

FILIPINO DIVISION 

MAIKLING KUWENTO
1st Prize: Andrian M. Legaspi, Sa Pagitan ng Sabaw ng Chaolong at Hilab ng Tiyan
2nd Prize: Valentine Dula, Patintero
3rd Prize: Nicko M. de Guzman, Troll

MAIKLING KUWENTONG PAMBATA
1st Prize: Maryrose Jairene Cruz-Eusebio, Ang Patay-gutom
2nd Prize: Josel Luigi F. Creencia, Lato't Ginto
3rd Prize: Cheeno Marlo M. Sayuno, Si Tiya Salome

SANAYSAY
1st Prize: Eugene Y. Evasco, Ang Mapa ng Taglagas sa Aking Maleta
2nd Prize: Will P. Ortiz, Sisid
3rd Prize: Mubarak M. Tahir, Aden Bon Besen Uyag-Uyag (May Buhay Pa Pala)

TULA
1st Prize: Christian R. Vallez, Sa Pagitan ng Banal at Karnal
2nd Prize: Jason G. Tabinas, Na Inyong Ikinalulunod
3rd Prize: Rogelio Dela Rosa Jr, Tanghod at iba pang Paghihintay

TULA PARA SA MGA BATA
1st Prize: John Vincent J. Bucal, Muwang ng Musmos
2nd Prize: Errol A. Merquita, Tagulilong: Ang mga Nawawala
3rd Prize: Paterno B. Baloloy, Jr, Agam-Agam ng Langgam

DULANG MAY ISANG YUGTO
1st Prize: Eljay Castro Deldoc, Pilipinas Kong Mahal With All the Overcoat
2nd Prize: Rodolfo Carlos Vera, Indigo Child
3rd Prize: Dominique Beatrice T. La Victoria, Ang Bata Sa Drum

DULANG GANAP ANG HABA
1st Prize: Dustin Edward D. Celestino, Ang Pangahas na si Pepe Rodriguez
2nd Prize: Joshua L. Lim So, Araw-araw, Gabi-gabi
3rd Prize: Vincent A. De Jesus, Changing Partners

DULANG PAMPELIKULA
1st Prize: Rodolfo Carlos Vera, Ang Aking Juan Luna
2nd Prize: Kristian Sendon Cordero, Kulto ni Santiago
3rd Prize: Avelino Mark C. Balmes Jr, Pablo Ocampo Extension


***

REGIONAL DIVISION

SHORT STORY – CEBUANO
1st Prize: Jondy M. Arpilleda, Bunok
2nd Prize: Manuel M. Avenido, Jr, Panagtigi
3rd Prize: Errol A. Merquita, Aninipot


SHORT STORY – HILIGAYNON
1st Prize: Jesus C. Insilada EdD, Tinuom
2nd Prize: Peter Solis Nery, Ang Milagro sa Ermita
3rd Prize: Leonard Francis M. Alcoran, Ang Itlog nga wala Nagabalibad

SHORT STORY – ILOKANO
1st Prize: Ronelyn Ramones, Ti Lubong ni Anastasia
2nd Prize: Lilia Quindoza Santiago PhD, Siak Ti Interpreteryo
3rd Prize: Ariel Sotelo Tabag, Dado


***

ENGLISH DIVISION

SHORT STORY
1st Prize: John Bengan, Disguise
2nd Prize: Katrina Guiang Gomez, Misericordia
3rd Prize: Joe Bert Lazarte, Don't Blink

ESSAY
1st Prize: Michelle Josephine G. Rivera, In My Father's Kitchen
2nd Prize: Paul Gideon D. Lasco, The Art of "Hugot" in our Republic of "Sawi"
3rd Prize: Jade Mark B. Capiñanes, A Portrait of a Young Man as a Banak

POETRY
1st Prize: Noelle Leslie dela Cruz, Sisyphus on the Penrose Stairs: Meta-Reveries
2nd Prize: Rodrigo V. Dela Peña Jr, Blood Compact
3rd Prize: Hurjay Medilo, Elegy for a Dying World

POETRY WRITTEN FOR CHILDREN
1st Prize: Cynthia Baculi-Condez, From Dawn to Dusk
2nd Prize: Patricia Celina A. Ngo, Magical Mall of Mysteries
3rd Prize: Ma. Amparo N. Warren, Animal Songs/Just So Poems

ONE-ACT PLAY
1st Prize: NO WINNER
2nd Prize: NO WINNER
3rd Prize: Joshua L. Lim So, Sa Syquia, Malate, Kabanata II: Letting The Days Go By

FULL-LENGTH PLAY
1st Prize: Dustin Edward D. Celestino, The Story of This Father
2nd Prize: Joachim Emilio B. Antonio, exesanonymous.com
3rd Prize: NO WINNER


***

GRAND PRIZES

NOBELA
Grand Prize: Eros S. Atalia, Ang Ikatlong Anti-Kristo

NOVEL
Grand Prize: Glenn L. Diaz, The Quiet Ones.

the kill list chronicles

I’ve always made a point to recount my day’s activities and musings on a journal before I go to sleep. Sometimes I’d skip an evening or two, but I would return to these missed journaling assignments and remember as much as I can how things have gone by, no matter how mundane they are. Lately, though, the blank spaces are creeping up and crowding the pages.

There are several reasons why: laziness, procrastination, too tired to even lift a pen, too many distractions and temptations, there is nothing new to say. Of course, everyone has something new to say. Filipinos are born to always have something to say, even to the point of being pointless. But living in this life right now, in the middle of a political climate that is downright suffocating, any interest to continue pushing through can easily be pronounced dead. Or killed, by default.

To make my point clear, let’s consider the latest man in highest office in our country, a man whose ego is as fragile as Chinaware (no pun intended), who also seems to be an enabler of hate and prejudice, and a champion for lack of empathy and common sense. Because of his irreverent methods on getting things done, there is no hiding the fact that the Philippines has become a bloodied den of vigilantes, injustices, and foul brazen language.

Years ago journal writing has been my refuge, my way of assessing my sanity each day. It’s like an anchor that keeps me put. But today, I do not even know where my sanity begins and where its opposite lies. All the time I track myself if I am functioning properly. Recounting my day that is preoccupied with so much hate and horror again and again can take its toll. That is why for the most part of a week I would try hard as hell to ignore the news like a former paramour who just left you without explanation but returned several years later to get your attention. You know how evil can get under your skin. There is no understating that each week leaves me sore and beat. It doesn’t also help that there is this barrage of noise from social media that could render me—or anyone, rather—emotionally and spiritually mangled.

And there is still six more years to go. I hope I could still muster the energy needed to recount what is needed to be recounted. If only it could bring back the dead.


*


My work “Poetry as a Lesson in Dwelling” is featured in The Kill List Chronicles, an online repository of the continuing protest literature in the Philippines. I’ve read to a small audience in a café an early version of this poem during the International Day of Peace last September 21. It was a celebration across the globe to commemorate the peace we have right now and the peace we want to achieve for the next generation. Coincidentally, it was also the very same day that former president and dictator Ferdinand Marcos declared the bloody Martial Law in the Philippines 44 years ago.

The contradictions, at least for me, were just hard to wrap around my head. 44 years have passed and yet here we are still trying to value and teach the meaning of freedom, respect, and decency. When people are supposed to keep in heart to never forget and to never repeat the history that once broke us, many backtrack instead to the primitive desire to kill without the slightest thought of implications.

This piece took me countless shots of struggling hours to get through. The poetry is personal, and the personal apparently is political. And that is hard. I always consider my works as drafts, and it has always been that way even if they are released to the open for any possible reader to stumble upon. But for this particular work I’ve had the feeling I ought to let it go, that it needs to be separated from my being. Thankfully, it found a place. I do hope we’ll find each other’s peace soon. I hope we will all learn how to dwell to get the dwelling we deserve in this country and in this world. I hope.