Philippine Art Awards names 20 artists as regional winners

The Philippine Art Awards (PAA), the highly anticipated visual-art competition in the country, has selected its regional winners from entries submitted on March 15. 

The PAA biennial competition, which has become more challenging with a new format of submission for visual artists in the country, has initiated the online submission process for the first time in 22 years.

This year’s regional competition has been very competitive, with only 20 winners selected to represent the PAA’s four regional competition areas: Metro Manila, Luzon, the Visayas and Mindanao.

The winners from Luzon are Abigail C. Dionisio, Edwin P. Martinez, Keith Romeo S. Espinosa, Mark Asan C. Reyes, and Mike Garcia.

The winners from Visayas are Jason A. Delgado, Joemel G. Mirabuena, Jose B. Inocencio III, Marrz Capanang, and Rommel Anglacer Garde.

The winners from Mindanao are Alynnah B. Macla, Joel Geolamen, Raul Sungkit Bendit, Renato A. Pilapil, and Rodney Palada Yap.

And the winners from Metro Manila are Roderick Macutay, Dexter M. Sy, Florence Jose M. Cinco, George O. Cubacub, and Neil Russell S. Balajadia. Their works are currently installed and may be previewed at the Yuchengco Museum in Makati City.

PMFTC Inc., the joint-venture company between Philip Morris Philippines Manufacturing Inc. and Fortune Tobacco Corp. that organizes the PAA, is enthusiastic about the results of the competition and welcomes the regional entries this year.

“The early and steady stream of inquiries, even before its official launch announcement, validates our efforts to continually support and participate in the development of Filipino artists and Philippine art in general,” PMFTC External Affairs Director Bayen Elero-Tinga said.

The 20 regional winners will continue to compete at the 2016 National Finals, during which the grand-prize winner and juror’s choice awardees will be selected. Aside from cash prizes, all the winners will enjoy an all-expenses paid trip to Hong Kong for the annual Basel and Art Central art fairs in March 2017.

The announcement of the PAA winners, awarding ceremony, and formal opening of the exhibition will be held at the Yuchengco Museum this month.

For more information, visit www.philippineartawards.org.