EIC seals 2nd place in nat’l essay contest

Jerome Ceralde bagged second place at the essay writing category in this year’s Patalasanlahi organized by the University of the Philippines Diliman on April 2, marking his second win at the event after 2018.

For the senior high division, the writing prompt given was “Man is born free, yet everywhere he goes, he is in chains.”

Ceralde’s piece, entitled “Beyond Broken Bastions,” approached the prompt from a pragmatic perspective, relating the concept of being chained to existing societal problems in the country. The grade 12 student explained that he chose not to venture into any philosophical interpretations and instead keep his content simple.

“Though it may sound cryptic at first glance, the prompt is definitely relatable to the current condition of Filipinos. It is as if simply being born in this country is a lifelong curse, and I wanted to highlight this idea in my article,” he said.

He also expressed his concern over how he would perform since the competition fell on the same day as their final defense. “I was worried that I would not be able to properly prepare for either event. My week prior to that day was divided between meeting with my groupmates in research and studying possible topics. Thankfully, I only had to sacrifice minor things, like food and sleep,” he said in jest.

Despite being conducted online, contestants were still required to write their pieces by hand and then submit a scanned copy through the designated link. They were allotted two hours and 20 minutes in total to accomplish this.

Before the contest proper, the contestants were invited to a webinar where speakers from UP discussed various contemporary topics, including the importance of youth activism in the 2022 elections and the state of Philippine democracy.

Ceralde qualified for the event after placing second at the Online Karibok Ang Tuktok essay competition held last November. Shacelle Caldoza also qualified due to having placed third in Dagliang Talumpati, but she chose to abstain from joining the national round.

Alcayde, Jimenez raise Teresian flag in fire prevention month contests

Lois Marie Yvone C. Alcayde, and Yuna Guilliane M. Jimenez, both from the high school department bagged awards at the BFP R4A Bauan Fire Prevention on the month of March.

Alcayde won first place in the Photography contest, while Jimenez finished third in the On-the-Spot Digital Artwork Contest, both of which are themed on fire prevention.

Mrs. Riggie M. Villahermosa and Mr. Roberto Claro H. Lopez, respectively, coached the students. kailangan alam mo kung ano yung ginagawa mo at gusto mo yung ginagawa mo,” Alcayde said.

She also stated that if you want to be a good photographer, you should learn photography techniques and execute them well.

Furthermore, they were awarded at school on March 18.