The Philippine Online Chronicles

While still on its pilot stage in the National Schools Press Conference (NSPC), the Online Writing contest has already become a highly-anticipated event, with this year’s event yielding the highest contestant turnout in the competition’s three-year history.

The Online Writing Contest was held at the Tagum National Trade School in Tagum City, Davao del Norte. The first time that the contest was included as a special category was at the 2008 NSPC held in Koronadal City, South Cotabato, but it was not officially included in the events until 2009.

Since it is a relatively new contest category, fewer contestants signed up for Filipino writing in both high school and elementary levels. The contestants were tasked to compose web-savvy articles based on this year’s theme, “Campus Journalism as a catalyst for change: Achieving the Millennium Development Goals by 2015.”

Judging the entries were Jonathan Hicap, who writes news and lifestyle articles for the Manila Bulletin; Rachel Khan, who teaches online journalism at the College of Mass Communication in the University of the Philippines and is a former chair of the UP Department of Journalism; Gilbert Tan, who has facilitated at three NSPCs and conducts lectures and training sessions for school paper advisers and budding campus journalists; and Danilo Arao, who is on the Board of Editors of web publication Bulatlat and also once headed the UP Department of Journalism.

Vibal Foundation, thru its news website The Philippine Online Chronicles (POC) and in partnership with the Department of Education, sponsored this year’s Online Writing competition in line with its advocacy to promote the use of new media to the nation’s budding student journalists.

Elementary

English

1^st Place: People’s Need: Education by Kyna Larissa M. Penafel (Region IV-B Mimaropa)

2^nd Place: Education Makes a Difference by John P. Villanueva (CARAGA Region)

3^rd Place: Nothing Can Stop Us and Nothing Can Go Wrong by Mary Beatrice Bagaforo (Region IV)

Filipino

1^st Place: Kabataan, Pag-asa ng Bayan by Angelica Dedace (Region VI)

2^nd Place: Pangkalawakang Pangunahing Edukasyon: Paano nga ba Makakamit? by Kimberly Jimeno (Cordillera Administrative Region)

3^rd Place: Edukasyon: Buhay ng Kabataan by Cesar Adrian Panganiban (Region IV- B Mimaropa)

High School

English

1^st Place: A Drop of Blood in a Bowl of Milk: Reshaping the figure of women in this century by Kaisa Aquino (Region II)

2^nd Place: When the Records Speak by Arianne Patricia Onte (Region IV-A Calabarzon)

3^rd Place: The Dichotomy of Gender Equality in the Philippines by Dean Lozarie (CARAGA Region)

Filipino

1^st Place: Si Adan, si Eba, Atbp by Keysie M. Gomez (Region XII)

2^nd Place: Lakbay Karapatan by Redbert Chris Maines (Region IV-A Calabarzon)

3^rd Place: Hindi iisa ang araw by Marianne Beatrix S. Nicolas (Region II)

Photo by Amirson Baybin. Some rights reserved.