COTABATO CITY— Cash prizes ranging from P25,000 – P75,000 were awarded Tuesday, Feb. 28, to the students who won in the ‘Salah Jubair’ on-the-spot essay writing contest of the Ministry of Basic, Higher, and Technical Education (MBHTE).
With the theme “Bangsamoro Learner: A Face Of Resilience And Excellence”, the contest served as a platform for junior and senior high, and tertiary students in BARMM to share personal stories and examine the impact of the Bangsamoro transition period on their lives as the younger generation.
A total of 700 students joined the contest but only 18 participants made it as finalists.
First placers of the contest took home P75,000, second placers with P50,000, and third placers with P25,000. Meanwhile, a total of P500,000 was divided as consolation prizes to some of the participants.
The following are the winners on different categories:
Junior High School:
1st placer: Fayeza Muizz Paniorotan (Cotabato City)
2nd placer: Fiona Nicole Relucio (Basilan)
3rd placer: Beulah Elisha Tarroza (Basilan)
Senior High School:
1st placer: Nadira Afraa Asiri (Sulu)
2nd placer: Shahanna Macalawan (Cotabato City)
3rd placer: Aster -Jinn Aragones (Basilan)
Tertiary:
1st placer: Aldammien Sukarno (Tawi-Tawi)
2nd placer: Sharifa Safrina Buttongah (Cotabato City)
3rd placer: Al-fatah Panginma Abdullah (Cotabato City)
“Alhamdulillah I’m the champion in the Salah Jubair essay contest which I did not expect as this is my first time join an essay contest,” said Aldammien Sukarno, a first-year college student from Tawi-Tawi.
“I really wanted to share, to be an instrument to express the struggles of the islanders. I’m always driven by my mantra that where we came from and how far the distance are not hindrances to dream,” Sukarno said.
He shared that he is a youth leader and president of the Tandubas Youth Association and he is looking forward to implement a writing project with the money he won.
According to Deputy Minister Haron Meling, the person behind the pseudonym ‘Salah Jubair’ is no less than MBHTE Minister Mohagher Iqbal. It is Iqbal’s pseudonym in the Moro Islamic Liberation Front (MILF).
Salah Jubair is the author of two books entitled Bangsamoro: A Nation Under Endless Tyranny and The Long Road to Peace: Inside the GRP-MILF Peace Process.
“He is a man of many accomplishments, he is an accomplished writer with a credit of three or four books,” said Meling, describing Iqbal.
“He is also the Head of Information Committee of the MILF,” he added.
Minister Iqbal, on the other hand, congratulated all the winners and participants, saying “failure is not a failure by itself.”
“The champion, before he reached it, encountered many failures, so it is part of success; but see to it you excelled,” Iqbal said. (Majid Nur/BIO)
