The Palanca, Free Press & UMPIL literary awards

Today marks the 59th edition of the Carlos Palanca Memorial Awards for Literature — which should make a lot of writers young and old very happy, and a lot more of other writers not exactly disconsolate, but even more determined to get into the winners’ circle next year.

Since 1950, a total of 1,887 Palanca prizes have been awarded the Filipino writer. This year’s contest involved all of 60 judges who evaluated and deliberated on a total of 927 submitted entries. The largest number for a category was 139 — for the Short Story in English. There were 81 submissions for the Short Story in Filipino, 27 in Cebuano, 15 in Hiligaynon, and 13 in Iluko. The second highest number of entries was for Poetry in English, with 120, while 72 were received in Filipino. 

For the Essay, there were 75 submissions in English, and 50 in Filipino. There were 49 entries for the Screenplay in Filipino. For the Kabataan Essay, 27 were submitted in English, 13 in Filipino. For the One-act Play, 25 were in English, and 40 in Filipino. For the Full-length Play, there were six in English and 18 in Filipino. And for the grand prize for the Novel, which is given only every three years, there were 16 entries in English, and 15 in Filipino.

This year, a total of 47 entries were adjudged as winners, with the total prize money amounting to P488,000.

While as of this writing we still had to see the full list of winners, we know enough of some young writers’ good fortune of having joined the 47 honorees this year, of which 20 or 42 percent are first-time winners.

Congratulations to Miguel “Chuck” Syjuco, of late based in Montreal, for winning the grand prize for the Novel in English; to Francis “Butch” Macansantos of Baguio City for the first prize in Poetry in English, Mookie Katigbak for the second prize and Marie La Viña for the third prize in the same category; to Mikael de Lara Co for the first prize in Poetry in Filipino; and to Ian Rosales Casocot of Dumaguete City for the first prize in the Short Story in English.

The literary awards season, actually covering these past six days, began last Wednesday, Aug. 27, with the awards rites for the annual Philippines Free Press literary contest. Since it also marked the publication’s hundredth year, the first prize for each of the three categories was a hefty (or “cool”) P100,000, with P50,000 for second prize and P30,000 for third prize — for but a single poem published in any of the issues the previous year. 

Following are the remarks I delivered as one of the judges for Poetry (the others being Marne Kilates and Victor Peñaranda):

“Appropriately enough, on its centennial, the hallowed publication that is the Philippines Free Press drew numerous outstanding examples of contemporary Philippine poetry in English for its literary contest — indeed, enough of quantity and quality as to possibly comprise an exceptional poetry anthology that would manifest and represent the best and brightest among our poets.

“On one hand, the judges thrilled to the marvelous range of poetic efforts that we had to go through. On the other hand, we faced difficulty in selecting the finalists and ultimately, the winners for the top three prizes.

“We agreed with one judge’s preferential appreciation for poems that are not too personal or private, but have something to add to our own store of knowledge and insights while also providing aesthetic delight. We also favored poems that added to the ‘national narrative’ — since, as one judge proposed, saying something about the Filipino (especially since we write in English) is important.

“With these considerations, the competition proved rather intense. Somehow, however, after much discernment, our votes were unanimous in selecting the top three poems from among a dozen finalists.

“The first-prize poem ‘Jerahmeel’ — which turned out to be by Cesar Ruiz Aquino of Dumaguete City — we found superlative for its ideas, language, length and sustained expression, as well as for its distinctive equipoise between gravitas and playfulness.

“To quote one of the judges: ‘This poet did what many others would hardly attempt: turn metaphysics into myth-making verse. He did it with calculated exposition: moon and moonlight; dreamer and the dream; male-female principle; inner–outer state. Constantly reminding us that all is one. The insight is precious. The meaning is not hidden behind symbols, but the symbol exposes the meaning: All things are moonlight, even the sun! There is only one shining in the dreams of sleepers. The poem flows with the charge of wonder and paradox. The moon is life-giving because of its influence on the tides of the imagination. In the end..., the extra-ordinary is evident in the ordinary... Being aware is the adventure!’ To quote anew from the poem, ‘gift upon gift, the gift of the moon!’

“For the second prize, we chose another moon poem: ‘Luna’s Lost Earrings’ by Marjorie Evasco. Again I quote from a judge’s reflection: ‘This poem has a structure of flexible tension that waxes lyrical. The images are clear and supple, sensuous in movement. It is an experience of mysterious celebration by a persona that manages to hide behind the rhythmic flow in selfless abandon.’

“Another judge adds: ‘The evident virtue of (this poem) is its having shorn itself of the I that younger poets seem unable to avoid. The sonnet’s brevity helps build its mystery and lyricism while not exactly constraining the idea itself, albeit that remains quite elusive.’

“The 3rd Prize went to ‘Very Strange Day. With Bicycle’ by Lourd de Veyra. Of which a judge says: ‘Refreshing voice. The persona is someone who discovers the lightness of being transported, someone who travels with sympathetic understanding of the environment to which he belongs... He blends memory with discovery; he reclaims himself through sheer awareness of the moment. Until he finds himself and boldly declares himself as himself, while riding a bicycle on a strange day.’”

Congratulations to these three fast friends of ours! As well as to the rest of the finalists, which included Gémino H. Abad, Joel Toledo, Mikael Co, Arkaye Kierulf, Vincenz Serrano, and Darwin Chiong (for each of two poems).

For the Short Story, the winners we congratulate are Singapore-based Ichi Batacan for first, Celeste Flores Coscolluela for second, and Amado Bajarias for third, while for the Essay, they are Oregon-based Willy Pascual for first, our Ateneo colleague Larry Ypil for second, and Copenhagen-based Lakambini “Bing” Sitoy for third.

Congratulations as well to the Locsin family for continuing the tradition of excellence set forth by the Philippines Free Press weekly magazine.

President Gloria Macapagal Arroyo graced the affair held at the Captain’s Bar of Mandarin Hotel. Her Excellency delivered a speech extolling the publication, while making mention of the ideals and principles shared as special ties between her father, former President Diosdado Macapagal, and Rep. Teddy Boy Locsin’s father, “Mr. Free Press” himself, Teodoro Locsin Sr. 

Last Saturday, Aug. 30, as has also become traditional with UMPIL or Unyon ng mga Manunulat ng Pilipinas (Writers Union of the Philippines), the Gawad Balagtas awards rites followed the national convention held at the GSIS Museo ng Sining at the CCP Complex, with South Korean writer Hyeon-seok Bang delivering the keynote address on this year’s theme of “Trading Words, Tracing Worlds.”

Receiving the prestigious Gawad Pambansang Alagad ni Balagtas, inclusive of a special wooden trophy sculpted by Manny Baldemor, were: Ruperta VR. Asunción for Katha sa Iluko (Iluko Fiction); Armando Y. Lao for Dulang Pampelikula (Filipino Screenplay); Edgardo B. Maranan for Tula at Sanaysay (Poetry & Essay in English & Filipino); James Teng Choon Na for Tula sa Tsino (Chinese Poetry); and Delfin L. Tolentino for Sanaysay (Essay).

The 2008 Gawad Paz Marquez Benitez for outstanding educator went to Ligaya Tiamson Rubin, while the Gawad Pedro Bucaneg was received by the Aréjola Foundation for Social Responsibility, Inc. Congratulations, everyone!