Young authors tackle AI, ‘nepo babies’ in Palanca-winning essays
Every time his mother cooks “sinigang,” the sour but savory Filipino broth, 16-year-old Joshua Manio volunteers to do his part in the kitchen, heating up the leftovers from the fridge.
He knows there are two ways to cook sinigang: the traditional method using sampalok or tamarind as a natural souring agent, or the more convenient but artificial option of just using a powder mix.
At first It did not make sense to him, Manio said, but soon enough he related that cooking anecdote to the use and limitations of artificial intelligence (AI) and turned it into an essay, “Tamang Pagluto ng Sinigang (The Right Way to Cooking Sinigang),” which won 1st prize in the “Kabataan Sanaysay” category in this year’s Carlos Palanca Memorial Awards for Literature.
“There are times when, as human beings, we direct our emotions, our feelings, and our thoughts toward AI. It’s like we’re just heating up sinigang mix. But, because it’s artificial, it only makes us more diluted,” he said about the theme of his winning entry.
Metaphor for AI
Meanwhile John Carl Guardian, Manio’s classmate at Gubat National High School in Sorsogon, won 1st prize in the “Kabataan Essay” category for his entry “The Salt Sermon.”
Guardian takes a fond look at his hometown of Gubat, particularly the beach called Dancalan, in his essay.
“I usually go there after school, sometimes alone or with my friends. The main character in my story is Mang Lino, who sells buckets of ‘tahong’ (mussels) and sometimes shares ‘kwentong barbero’ (barber’s tales),” Guardian said in an interview.
Among the insights shared by Mang Lino is the conviction that if the sea pulls too far back, it signifies someone about to leave.
Relating this to AI, Guardian said that if the new technological tool pulls someone too far, “someone or something within you, which is creativity, is also leaving.”
Memorable night
Manio’s and Guardian’s respective essays emerged as among the 58 winners, out of more than 2,000 entries, in this year’s Palanca Awards.
The two Grade 11 students joined the awards ceremony on Nov. 25 in a night that brought together authors, poets, academics and other writers, both aspiring and established.
Established in 1951, the Palanca Awards remains the country’s longest-running and most prestigious literary competition.
Named after businessman and philanthropist Don Carlos Palanca Sr., the awards aim to promote literature, and along with it culture and education throughout the country.
This year’s Palanca ceremony marks the 75th or diamond jubilee of this literary institution, although it was forced into hiatus during the two years of the pandemic.
‘Deeply personal’ tool
The 2,359 entries across all divisions is a “historic high” for the 57 judges, who selected the 58 winning entries.
Inquirer executive editor Volt Contreras served as one of the three judges in the Kabataan Essay and Kabataan Sanaysay categories, which explored how AI is fast revolutionizing learning and creative endeavors like the writing process itself.
A recurring topic in the entries is how AI has entered conversations about mental health, Contreras said.
“It has reached the point where people depend on and even communicate with AI in a deeply personal way,” he added.
Manio, who is studying under the Stem (science, technology, engineering and mathematics) program, said AI has become part of his academic life. In his essay, he discussed how his friends have found AI to be an “alternative therapist.”
“I also wrote [my essay] to remind readers that just because someone uses AI, it doesn’t mean they have some kind of mental issue. It’s just that, in their lives, that’s the only thing they can turn to,” Manio said.
Scene stealer
Criselda “Dang” Cecilio-Palanca, a retired actress and now vice president of the Carlos Palanca Foundation, also pointed out that this year’s entries indicate the “passing of the digital torch through generations, even as we grapple with the increasing incursion of ChatGPT and AI into writer territory—for better or for worse.”
She emphasized the need to rely on creativity grounded in fresh imagination to “forge literature that keeps in step with the times.”
Cecilio-Palanca also noted recent catch phrases such as “nepo babies” which have served as “triggers” in the current public discourse.
As it turned out in this occasion, writer and cultural worker Rouchelle Dinglasan stole the scene when she received her award with a bold statement in red across her eight-month-old baby bump: “Ikulong na ’yan mga kurakot” (Jail the Corrupt).
“I believe that in a gathering like the Palanca Awards, we still need to raise our voices so that our government hears us,” said Dinglasan, whose entry “Dantay sa Patay” won third place in the One-Act Play category in Filipino.
‘Sheer creativity’
Film scholar Ed Cabagnot, who also served as one of the judges, said he appreciated that despite the challenges of the era, “young Filipinos are still continuing to talk about important issues, challenging us to process it again, and to look at old issues with new eyes with their creativity.”
“The first time I won was in 1983. It’s 2025 and I’m just happy that Filipinos are still there fighting everything with sheer creativity,” Cabagnot said.
