Reliving the tradition: The 62nd Palanca Awards

Quickly scanning the names of winners in the 62nd Carlos Palanca Memorial Awards for Literature handed out on the traditional first of September gala night at the Manila Pen’s Rigodon Ballroom, I was happy to note that fewer names were in my ken of familiarity.

It used to be that even among the winners in the Filipino division, I would be on speaking or carousing terms (over many drinks) with at least half of the yearly winners, and would have heard of some of the upcoming young ones.

This time around, I knew only a handful of the winners in Filipino: Niles Jordan Breis, Elyrah L. Salanga Torralba and Jing Panganiban-Mendoza, who placed 1st, 2nd and 3rd, respectively, in Sanaysay, and others by virtue of co-engagement at writing workshops, UP Diliman forays, and e-loops (among them Kristian Sendon Cordero (2nd in Tula), John Enrico C. Torralba and Peter Solis Nery (1st and 2nd, respectively, in Tulang Pambata), Renerio R. Concepcion (2nd in Dulang May Isang Yugto), and Rodolfo Vera (1st in Dulang Pampelikula).

I was happy for all of them, and happiest for Elyrah, the daughter of our late lamented poet buddy Freddie Salanga, and whom I would be congratulating at Palanca Night for the second time.

Tourism Secretary Mon Jimenez receives the Gawad Dangal ng Lahi from Carlos Palanca IV, Sylvia Palanca-Quirino and Dang Cecilio Palanca.

Of the winners in the Regional Languages Division (Cebuano, Hiligaynon and Iluko — Short Story), I knew no one.

In any case, when one enters the Rigodon Ballroom on Palanca Night, after registry at the welcome foyer where one also receives a copy of the program and roster of winners and judges, the first thing one usually does after the first beso-besos and selecting a table is to browse through those lists. Well, this I did after making sure my lovely consort had her initial glass of red wine, and me my whisky. (It would be upgraded from JW Black to JW Platinum after my first double, neat, thanks to a reserved bottle courtesy of Carlos Palanca III.)

Going through the winners in the English division, I also found reason to rejoice. Early leaks had made it known that Dumaguete buddy Ian Rosales Casocot had won 2nd in Short Story, the young Carlomar Arcangel Daoana 1st in Poetry (a special hooray!) and old Bacolodnon buddy Atty. Raymundo T. Pandan Jr. or “RayBoy” 3rd in Poetry for Children. (Aha! For sure that means a single malt whisky treat from this guy!) 

The list then informed me that Martin Villanueva had won 2nd in Essay, Charmaine L. Carreon 2nd in Poetry, and Peter Solis Nery 1st in Poetry for Children. The additional pleasant surprise was knowing that plucky Peter from Dumangas, Iloilo, and now of the USA, had gained his fifth 1st Prize and thus earned elevation to the Palanca Hall of Fame, as its 23rd member.

The list made it obvious that fresh young writers are winning big in the Palanca, as they should be. This fact had veteran writers at our table — Cristina Pantoja Hidalgo and Susan Lara in particular — relishing the notion that all their occasional or occupational mentoring was reaping rewards.

As Susan wrote on her FB Wall the morning after, “Palanca night has always been, more than anything, a family reunion. This one was pretty special because quite a number of my literary children were among the winners. That night, I was there not only as judge in the Short Story category, English Division, but as proud literary mother.”

From the Palanca Foundation director-general Sylvia Palanca-Quirino’s speech that night, we learned the following:

“For this year’s Palanca Awards, we received a total number of 1,077 entries in 20 categories. 57 judges awarded prizes to 59 winning works from 58 authors, 29 of whom are former winners, and an equal number of 29 who are new winners.  

“Very young writers of 20 years of age or under constitute 10 percent of this year’s awardees, while those whose ages fall between 21 and 30 comprise 29 percent.

“Winners aged 31 to 40 comprise another 29 percent. Then the percentage figures taper off, starting with the age group of 41 to 50, at 17 percent, 10 percent for the 51-to-60 age group, and 5 percent for those between 61 and 70.”

What we among the vets’ and previous winners’ tables repeated to ourselves all night, over countless toasts (Ed Maranan, Marj Evasco, RayVi Sunico, Charlson Ong, Ed Cabagnot, Shirley Lua, emcee Vim Nadera, Mike Coroza, Dean Alfar, et al.), Sylvia Palanca-Quirino stressed before the podium:

“These numbers signify and reaffirm, each year, that there is a continuous, consistent passing of the torch among the bearers of the light that is our literature.

Poetry in English First-Prize winner Carlomar Arcangel Daoana

“Imagine! There were 203 entries for the short story in English, and 196 in Filipino! There were 48 for Cebuano, 47 for Hiligaynon, and 48 for Iluko — for a total of 542 entries for short fiction. Those are a lot of stories about our country and our experiences, our pains and our hopes, our dreams and our visions. That is quite a harvest for a single year.

“There were 198 entries for Poetry in English, and 174 for Poetry in Filipino. That totals 372 poets in this country who saw fit to collect their current works and submit these to the Palanca Awards competition. What inspiration to know that we have hundreds of poets in our country!”

Marj Evasco and Miguel Faustmann did an excellent job of reading excerpts from Nery’s and Daoana’s winning poems. Our buddy Rosauro “Uro” dela Cruz directed the staging of the winning one-acter in Filipino: “Joe Cool: Aplikante” by Joshua Lim So, with Robert Seña and Candy Pangilinan as actors.

Ramon R. Jimenez, Jr., Secretary of Tourism and himself an exceptional writer (of more than just taglines) received the Gawad Dangal ng Lahi as the special honoree.

Sylvia PQ then referred to the annual milestone as “a joyous homecoming for Filipino writers, the grand reunion, the one get-together where generations of poets, fictionists, playwrights, essayists, and screenplay writers happily rediscover one another — and more importantly, realize as well the fact that they belong to the Palanca community.”

Addressing National Artist for Literature F. Sionil Jose’s expressed concerns when he received the Dangal ng Lahi Award last year, Sylvia also said:

“…(T)hose who are in this assembly may already be said to have deepened their love of country, already thought beyond themselves, already sacrificed and given of their time, their minds, their spirit, their patience and resolve, and their excellent memory — by writing about how it is to be Filipino, and by submitting their entries to our annual contest. 

“… By virtue alone of the materials we have at hand, the trials and blessings of our unique history, as well as the cognizance of what makes the Filipino tick in her and his own inimitable way, the writing of our literature already enjoys a distinct advantage — one that the writer with acute appreciation can always turn into parts of that grand tapestry of memory that you are still weaving, all together.  

“And it is always a marvelous discovery each year when we see that more and more of our youth are joining in this commendable effort by way of creative writing.”

She concluded her speech with the following significant announcement:

“… To address Mr. Frankie Jose’s concerns, anent the hope of the fatherland, and in response to his call, we take this opportunity to proudly announce a new development.

“A series of books that will serve as inspiration toward nation-building will be published under the aegis of the Carlos Palanca Foundation.

“This series, to be entitled: ‘I Did It — So Can You!’ — will celebrate the lives of Filipinos who rose from simple beginnings to achieve meritorious success in their respective fields of endeavor. 

“The first book is a gem of practical advice from one of the pillars of insurance, Bobby Madrid, who started his career in the life insurance industry as an agent and rose from the ranks to become the first Filipino president of Manulife and later became the founding President and CEO of Pru Life UK which he built from the ground and made into one of the biggest life insurance corporations in the country today. 

“The second book in the series features the eminent cardiac surgeon Dr. Jorge Garcia who performed the first heart transplant in the Philippines. Dr. Garcia, who is internationally-renowned as one of the best heart surgeons in the world, had a vision to duplicate the US system in the Philippines. He established the Makati Heart Foundation to provide for the transfer of knowledge and skills to local surgeons and nurses. He also founded the Asian Hospital and Medical Center, famous for its world-class treatment and facilities. Dr. Jorge is currently a senior Cardiac Surgeon at the Washington Hospital Center in Washington DC, and Clinical Professor of Surgery at Georgetown University in Washington. We are privileged to have both gentlemen as our special guests tonight.

“These stories of success will also teach others how to do it — how to face the challenges of modest backgrounds and manage to achieve great feats. The lives and pathways of these exemplars of enterprise will then be turned into inspirational literature.”

Her concluding words were only too apt:  

“Secretary Jimenez reaffirmed and highlighted the power of the written word in the Department’s globally successful slogan: ‘It’s more fun in the Philippines!’

“Indeed, tonight, we can attest that Creative Writing IS more fun in the Philippines!”