Doubly blessed winners at the 66th Palanca Awards

Last Friday night, the Carlos Palanca Foundation Inc. honored 51 creative writers in 20 categories at the 66th Carlos Palanca Memorial Awards for Literature at The Peninsula Manila hotel in Makati City. 

In a speech she gave as the representative of the foundation, and of the family of the late businessman and philanthropist Carlos Palanca Sr., former beauty queen and actress Criselda “Dang” Cecilio-Palanca said the Philippines’ foremost literary competition received an astounding 986 entries this year. Of the 51 who won, 24 are first-timers, while 28 have won before.

If these figures are any indication, we can safely say that the Philippine literary community remains robust. It proves that more and more people are seriously pursuing the writing life, and those already thriving in such a life continue to improve their craft, never once thinking of resting on their proverbial laurels.

Embodying this idea best is someone who may be regarded as this year’s top winner—2009 Hall of Fame honoree Dr. Eugene Y. Evasco. He won twice this year: second prize for his Filipino-language essay Mga Pagsasanay sa Paggalugad ng Siyudad (Exercises in Exploring the City) and third prize for his short story for children, titled Ambon ng Liwanag (Shower of Light).

Evasco is not the only Hall of Famer who scored this year, though. United States-based Peter Solis Nery, who was inducted in 2012, garnered yet another Palanca medal, this time for his English-language one-act play Tic-Tac-Toe. He also garnered attention with his literally sparkling, crystal-studded beige suit—an outfit that may not be as out-there as those he wore in previous ceremonies, but nevertheless stunned people with its audacious construction.

Almost as noteworthy as those two’s seeming efforts to approach prolific creative writer Edgardo Maranan’s record of having the highest number of Palanca awards is the fact a number of the winners also won in 2015.

One of them is Nery himself. Last year he earned first prize for his collection of children’s poems, titled The Rainbow Collection.

Another is the young Richard C. Cornelio, who clinched first prize in the highly competitive short story in English category for his entry Zoetrope, and second prize in the Kabataan Essay in English for A Loaded Gun in the House Next Door in 2015.

Hammed Q. Bolotaolo is also a back-to-back winner, following up his third-place win last year for his English-language short story The Storyteller with a second-place win for his essay Circle.

Also part of this group is Patricia Celina A. Ngo. Her English-language collections of poems for children, titled Ordinary Adventures and Miniature Masterpieces, garnered second prize in 2015 and third prize this year, respectively.

Joining them are Manuel M. Avenido Jr., who landed in second place last year and third this year for his Cebuano short stories Sa Lalaking Naligsan sa may Interseksyon and Estatwa, respectively; and Ritchie D. Pagunsan, whose Hiligaynon short stories Kalamay Nga Pula and Ang Panaad garnered second prize in 2015 and first prize this year, respectively.

Last, but not the least, on this list is Jason Renz D. Barrios, whose 2015 entry Kahimanawari: Mga Kwentong Aswang ni Lola Basyang (Kahimanawari: Lola Basyang’s Aswang Tale) and 2016 submission Ang Pinakamagandang Pamato sa Larong Piko (The Most Beautiful Player in Hopscotch) both won third prize in the Kabataan Essay in Filipino category.

All of them—plus others who I think deserve a mention here, like young dramatists Guelan Varela-Luarca and Ma. Cecilia de la Rosa, whose winning Filipino-language one-act plays Bait (Sanity) and Ang Mga Bisita ni Jean (Jean’s Visitors), respectively, were staged at this year’s Virgin Labfest; and longtime literary luminaries Jaime An Lim and Merlinda Bobis—highlight, through their wins, traits that every serious creative writer should possess besides the requisite talent: perseverance and consistency.

To them, and to all the winners this year, my warmest congratulations!