20 young essayists receive P10,000 cash prize from Cayetano writing tilt

Former Speaker Alan Peter Cayetano on Saturday awarded P10,000 each to 20 senior high school students who won an essay writing contest sponsored by his office.

Cayetano praised and congratulated the winning students for exercising their writing talents to create exemplary essays on the topic of loving God and neighbor.

“May fulfillment ang mga sinusulat. Bihira, kung meron man, na ipinanganak na talagang may talent sumulat pero marami ay natutunan over time. Tiyagain lang,” he said during the Facebook livestream on October 30. held in La Luna Cafe, Taguig City where the cash prizes were handed over to the students.

(There’s a sense of fulfillment in the things we write. It’s rare, if any, that people are born with a writing talent but many learn it over time. Just be patient.)

Present with Cayetano were four out of the 20 students who were given P10,000: Rhaizza Nash Co, Keycelyn Galamay, Prince Ginno Udani, and Nicole Ann Burce.

Cayetano was also joined by judges Dr. Micah Pacheco and Dr. Ellery Quintia who selected the top 20 winners (10 for Filipino and 10 for English) and the 6 consolation prizes.

The office of the former House Speaker held the English and Tagalog Essay Writing Contest from September 3 through 10.

Participating writers were tasked to craft essays based on Luke 10:27, a scripture in the Bible wherein Jesus instructs His disciples to “love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your strength and with all your mind,” and “love your neighbor as yourself.'”

The contest was held to show support towards the art of writing and the youth who continue to pursue their passion for writing.

There were a total of 2,802 entries and 1,604 of them were considered valid. Of these, 1,278 entries came from Luzon, 170 from Visayas, and 156 from Mindanao.

Around 845 essays were written in English and 759 were written in Filipino.

Cayetano applauded public and private senior high school students from around the Philippines for their participation and encouraged them to keep honing their writing skills through practice and making use of opportunities like this contest.

“Don’t join expecting a gold medal or manalo ng prize, join because it will give you fulfilment kasi sa tingin niyo part ng purpose, at makikita niyo sa lahat ng kausap natin ngayon na ang support ng pamilya ay napaka-importante,” he said.

(Don’t join expecting a gold medal or to win the prize, join because it will give you fulfillment because you feel that it is part of the purpose. You will also see from everyone we talk to today that a supportive family is very important.)

“Minsan we keep wanting to teach them, but we can learn from them din,” he added, recognizing that there is also a lot to be learned from children.

(Sometimes, we keep wanting to teach them but we can also learn from them.)

Cayetano has been an advocate for youth empowerment and quality yet affordable education for many years.

The city of Taguig, where he serves as district representative, provides many scholarships and school necessities for its students like safety supplies, uniforms, notebooks, and the like. ####