THE PALANCA AWARDS CELEBRATES ITS DIAMOND JUBILEE

It was on Sept. 1, 1951 when Don Carlos Palanca Sr. established what would become a hallowed tradition of honoring our country's literary writers as an important facet of nation-building.

- ALFRED A. YUSON

The original genres for the first year of the Carlos Palanca Memorial Awards for Literature were the Short Story and Maikling Kuwento. In 1953, the One-Act Play and Dulang May Isang Yugto were introduced. Ten years later, in 1963, Poetry and Tula were also added.

Over the years, the rising popularity of other literary genres led to their subsequent addition — until these included the essay, the full-act play, the film script, stories and poems for children, the novel, and the Kabataan or youth essay, some of these in regional languages.

From the pilot year’s first six winners, the Palanca Awards have since rewarded a total of 2,634 winning authors, with a total of 2,735 winning works. They have also involved an increasing number of literary judges who have heartily welcomed generations of their younger peers.

On the Diamond Jubilee Celebration held last Wednesday at the Manila Polo Club, the total number of entries reached a historic high of 2,359 entries in 20 categories — as overseen by 57 judges, resulting in 58 winning works by 54 authors.

As Criselda “Dang” Cecilio-Palanca recounted in her Sponsor’s Remarks, in 2023, what has come to be known lovingly, with simple familiarity, as “Palanca Night,” underwent a surprising change in venue, from the customary Manila Peninsula Hotel to the Philippine International Convention Center or PICC. “This was when we decided to start our National Heritage Series — to honor our traditional milestone with appropriate attachment to institutions that are unmistakable hallmarks of Philippine heritage.”