Winner!

News from CANVAS on the 2009 Romeo Forbes Children's Story Writing Competition, courtesy of Gigo Alampay --

CANVAS is pleased to announce that Fernando Gonzalez, in a close decision, has won the 2009 Romeo Forbes Children's Story Writing Competition for his story, Mga Huni sa Loob ng Kawayan. He becomes our first two-time winner, having previously won for "Ang Batang Maraming Bawal."

The rest of the finalists - in no particular order - were:

* Sierra Mae Paraan for "Ang Balangay ng Magigiting"
* Joaquim Emilio Antonio for "Ang Silid ni Bb. Ismid" and
* Genaro Gojo Cruz for "Ang Mga Anak ng Bayan sa Katipunan"

The panel of judges was composed of Mariella Sugue, a 2006 TOYM Awardee who co-founded the Child Protection Unit (CPU) under the Department of Pediatrics of the Philippine General Hospital that pioneered the multi-disciplinary approach to the care of abused children; Bam Aquino, former chairperson of the National Youth Commission and president of Microventures
Inc., which runs Hapinoy - the first and largest chain of sari-sari stores in the country; and CANVAS Executive Director Gigo Alampay.

A couple of notable notes: This year's contest piece (shown above) by artist Juanito Torres inspired over 80 original stories from Filipino writers, with some coming from as far away as the United Kingdom and the United States. This is also the first time that the stories that made it to the final round were all written in Filipino.

Thank you to all those who participated in this year's competition. And congratulations, again, to Fernando "Don" Gonzalez!