The Philippine Online Chronicles

An online writing contest had never been staged at the National Schools Press Conference (NSPC). Vicah Adrienne Villanueva, Pysche Desiree Een Castillo and Angela Mariz Caudal had never been to the nationwide campus journalists' meet either. But when these first-time contestants jumped headlong into a first-time competition, they all pulled through with a series of first-rate creations.

Villanueva, an NSPC rookie from St. Joseph School in Western Visayas, bagged top honors in the elementary category of the pioneering edition of the NSPC's Online Writing contest held in Naga City, Camarines Sur last February 17. Villanueva bested eight other grade school writers with her article “Yin and Yang” while Angelica Quitasol from Ateneo de Iloilo outshone all high school contestants with her rallying piece “Agents of Change.”

Castillo, from Dadiangas West Central Elementary School in Region XII, won third prize in the elementary category for “Environmental Destruction: Everyone's Concern.” In turn, Dwight Angelo De Leon from Maria Loreto Integrated School in Oriental Mindoro copped second place among grade schoolers for writing “Our Environment... It's Just You and Me.”

Axl Ross Tumanut from the University of La Salette in Cagayan Valley penned the lyrical “The Incessant Murder of Gaea” and finished behind Quitasol. Caudal, a delegate from the Ramon Magsaysay High School in Manila, won third prize in the high school division for the article “Going Green!”

“I was thinking other regions would get the prize, you know?” said Villanueva after receiving her award on February 19, the NSPC's last day, as she huddled with an equally excited Castillo and De Leon off-stage.

“This is my first time,” the first-ever online writing winner added. “I don't even have Friendster. I don't even know how to do the images thing!”

Said Castillo of her own triumph: “Buena mano kaagad (First time lucky)!”

As seemingly fortunate as they were, the inaugural winners from the elementary ranks also proved versatile. Earlier in the day, Villanueva was named the second-placer in the Feature Writing English category. De Leon was named the second-best news anchor in the Filipino Radio Broadcasting competition. His team—Region IV-MIMAROPA—placed third in the event overall.

“Isa pong blessing kay God ito (This is a blessing from God),” said De Leon, a slightly-built former NSPC champion and child broadcaster in his hometown. “Ang dami ko pong napanalunan na award, minsan lang po ito, yung iba po hindi nakakakuha ng ganito (I've won so many awards today and this rarely happens to anyone).”

“Ang totoo po, hindi ako marunong gumawa ng website (The truth is, I don't know how to make websites),” he added. “Mabilis lang akong mag-type (I can just type fast).”

While fast fingers helped De Leon on his way to a silver medal, Caudal, the third-placer in the high school category, was worried about the opposite. Though not really a stranger to web writing given the attempts of her school to publish their newspapers online, the NSPC first-timer nonetheless didn't find the new contest to be a breeze.

“Nataranta nga po ako kasi isang oras lang (I panicked a bit because we were only given one hour [to write]),” she said. “Tapos medyo mabagal po ako mag-type (Not to mention I also type slowly).”

High school runner-up Tumanut had another story. A devotee of the Virgin Mary, he prayed to Naga's iconic Our Lady of Peñafrancia for twin victories in the Feature Writing English and Online Writing events he joined. He didn't reap accolades from both contests, but celebrated his web writing award just the same.

“Parang totoo yung sinasabi nila na kapag may dasal tapos iba yung sagot may purpose ang Diyos para iyon ang ibigay niya (It's true that God has a purpose for answering your prayers in the way you didn't expect them to be answered),” Tumanut said.

“Mas nakakapag-practice po siguro ako sa computer magsulat kesa sa papel kaya siguro po mas nanalo ako rito (Maybe I'm more used to writing with a computer than on paper and that's why I won in the online event),” he added, quipping.

High school first-placer Quitasol was not present at the awarding ceremonies.

All in all, the winners were pleased not just with their honors but also the novelty of the competition they topped. Listing the opportunities given by the online medium to writers, they applauded the inclusion of the Online Writing category in the 2009 NSPC and said they looked forward to seeing it in the future.

“I think it's a very good category, actually,” said Villanueva. “It's kind of inspiring to finally have that.”

The competition hosted by The Philippine Online Chronicles featured nine students per level and asked the writers handpicked by their respective regional teams to write web-savvy articles with the theme “The Role of My Community in Saving the Environment.” The contest was part of the Department of Education's endeavor to introduce new media to the country's budding campus journalists, in cooperation with Vibal Foundation.

Online Writing Contest winners 2009:

Elementary

• 1st: Yin and Yang, Vicah Adrienne Villanueva
• 2nd: Our Environment-- It's Just You and Me, Dwight Angelo L. de Leon
• 3rd: Environmental Destruction: Everyone's Concern, Psyche Desiree Een Castillo

High school

• 1st: Agents of Change, Angelica Quitasol
• 2nd: The Incessant Murder of Gaea, Axl Ross Tumanut
• 3rd: Going Green, Angela Mariz Caudal

Photo of NSPC 2009 Online Writing Winners (Elementary) by Audrey Jalandoni. Licensed under Creative Commons BY-NC-SA 2.0 Philippines.

Photo of Axl Ross J. Tumanut and Angela Mariz Caudal by Ivy Vibar. Licensed under Creative Commons BY-NC-SA 2.0 Philippines.