Overseas Filipinos essay contest for students offers cash prizes

SAN FRANCISCO — An overseas Filipino group is holding an essay contest with an offer of cash prizes for high school and college students on the role and importance of overseas Filipinos in the future of the Philippines.

Celia Lamkin, chairperson of the US Pinoys for Good Governance-Marianas Chapter (Commonwealth of the Northern Mariana Islands and Guam), announced the contest, which is open to all Filipino students or students of Filipino descent in the Philippines and overseas, from 10 to 25 years old, who are enrolled in high school and college.

“An Overseas Filipino is a person of Filipino origin who lives outside of the Philippines,” according to Wikipedia’s definition. “This term applies to Filipinos who are both abroad indefinitely as citizens or permanent residents of a different country, and to those Filipino citizens abroad for a limited, definite period, such as on a work contract or a student. It can also include seamen and others who work outside the Philippines but are not residents, either permanent or temporary, of another country.”

In 2012, the Commission on Overseas Filipinos (CFO), headed by Secretary Imelda M. Nicolas under the Office of the President of the Philippines, estimated that approximately 10.5 million Filipinos worked or resided abroad.

Submissions start from December 31, 2014 to February 1, 2015. Entries should be submitted by email only at [email protected].

The theme of the essay is “The Overseas Filipinos and their impact on the Philippines.”

The essay should focus on:

1. The contributions of Overseas Filipinos to the economy of the Philippines. The importance of the participation of overseas Filipinos in the Philippine elections.
2. The social risks that the children and families of overseas Filipinos face due to long years of separation or long distance relationships?
3. Why are the overseas Filipinos called the  “new heroes” of the Philippines. Please describe the traits of overseas Filipinos,which make them unique as global immigrants and Overseas Filipino Workers (OFWs).

Contestants are encouraged to read books, publications and the Internet on various articles regarding the theme.

The essay must be original. It must not have been previously published in print or online or any visual and/or auditory recording. It must be in English and must not be more than 1,500 typed words and should be in MS word format.

Prize ranges from 25,000 to 3,000 pesos ($500 to $ 60). The school/college/university of the first prize-winning essays will receive 10,000 pesos ($220) each.

Every student entry must contain the confirmation of the school principal, college/university dean or president that the essay is written by and originated from the student. Signature of the school principal, college or university president or dean, address, email address and telephone number are required to authenticate the student entry.

Only one entry per person will be accepted. The entry form is available at www.uspgg.org or it can be requested by email at [email protected] . A parental consent, authorization and liability waiver form is required for minor student. Adult students, for their part, must submit a student consent, authorization and liability waiver form.

A panel of judges, selected by the US Pinoys for Good Governance Ad Hoc Committee for Essay Contest on Overseas Filipinos, will make the final decision. The panel is composed of prominent lawyers, journalists, retired educators and university administrators, consultants, among others.

The awards ceremony will be held during the Third Global Summit of Filipinos in the Diaspora on February 25-27, 2015, at Manila Hotel  in Manila, Philippines,  where approximately 600 participants from different countries are expected to attend.

Attorney Loida Nicolas Lewis, national chairperson of US Pinoys for Good Governance, says, ” It is good to listen to what the youth feel about Filipinos Overseas because they themselves may be children of Filipinos who went abroad to seek financial resources to give their family a better future.”

US Pinoys for Good Governance, headed by national chairwoman attorney Loida Nicolas Lewis, president attorney Rodel Rodis and legal counsel/spokesman attorney Ted Laguatan, is a 501 (c) (3) nonprofit organization based in New York, whose mission is a better life for Filipinos everywhere and a better Philippines.

For more information, email Dr. Celia Lamkin at [email protected] or Norman Silvestre at [email protected].

For more information on the USP4GG, visit www.uspgg.org.