Rodrigo dela Peña Jr. was at his desk when he received the news through an e-mail: he had just won his third Palanca award.

“I screamed,” the project manager for an events company in Singapore said.

Dela Peña flew to Manila to receive the first prize award for his poetry collection “Self-Portrait With Plastic Bag.” Held at The Peninsula Manila last Oct. 5, the 68th Carlos Palanca Memorial Awards for Literature’s awarding ceremony gathered the biggest and brightest names in Philippine literature—winners old and new, judges, even a National Artist or two.

Fifty-seven judges read 1,100 entries in 20 categories to select the 54 winning authors, 26 of whom are first-time winners.

It wasn’t an e-mail that broke the news to TV journalist Jefry Canoy. “I just got home from an out-of-town coverage and I was so surprised to get an old-school envelope in the mail. When I opened it, I just stared at it for so long because I couldn’t believe it was happening.”

His piece “Buhay Pa Kami: Dispatches From Marawi” won first prize in the essay category.

“I wanted to do a long-form story because I wanted to bring more attention to the story of Marawi. I’m a TV reporter so most of the stories I do are limited to a two-minute piece and I felt like I wanted to give more justice to the very compelling and inspiring and powerful stories that I’ve encountered in Marawi,” Canoy said.

Canoy, who joined the competition for the first time this year, said he had dreamt of receiving a Palanca since he was in college. “I’m still freaking out,” he said.

Multi-awarded writer Alfred “Krip” Yuson, the evening’s guest of honor and recipient of the Gawad Dangal ng Lahi, recalled in his speech the first time he won a Palanca 50 years ago—third prize in the short story category.

News of his triumph, which arrived via telegram, was a surprise. “I hadn’t even known that the story that got published earlier that year in the Philippines Free Press had been entered in the contest. At that time, publishers and editors could submit stories that were published in their magazines. Unbeknownst to me, the Free Press’ literary editor, Nick Joaquin, had sent my story to the Palanca contest. Talk about luck. The great writer’s faith in my first story turned out to be justified.”

2,357 winning writers

In its 68 years of existence, the awards have recognized a total of 2,357 winning writers and 2,441 works.

Criselda “Dang” Cecilio-Palanca discussed the demographics of this year’s winners. “Thirty-three of these winners were male, while 21 were female. Six of the winners were 20 years or under in age, while 14 were of the 21-to-30 age bracket, 17 belonging to the 31-to-40 age bracket, 11 of the 41-to-50 age bracket, three of the 51-to-60 age group, and three senior citizens, from 63 to 80 years old!”

One of the youngest winners this year is Floriane Taruc, who won first prize for her kabataan essay “Worlds Behind Words.”

“I wanted to win a Palanca before I turned 18. I’m 17. I want to make my parents proud, that’s my main drive to enter this contest,” she said.

Yuson made his parents proud too that fateful day of his first win in 1968. “It turned out that my father was there. He never showed himself to me. He must have gate-crashed the proceedings… It wasn’t until a few days later that he let on that he had been there, when he presented me a framed black-and-white photo of his first-born receiving the award.”

The awarding ceremonies are never just that—they are evenings of dreams coming true, they are nights when legends are born.

This year, two writers won two awards in different categories. Early Sol Gadong won the first prize for her short story in Hiligaynon “Sa Lum-ok Sang Imo Suso” and third prize for her maikling kuwento “Maraming-maraming-marami.”

Joe Bert Lazarte bagged two awards as well: first prize for his short story “Describe the Rapture” and second prize for his one-act play “Senator Pancho Aunor’s Blue Balls of Despair and Disillusionment.”

“The one-act play is about a senator who wakes up one day to find that his testicles are talking. Gusto mo malaman name ng balls? Derek and Piolo,” said Lazarte, who works as a communications professional for a casino and hotel.

Lazarte, who won his first Palanca last year, said that he joined three categories this time. “If I had time, I would have joined more.”

For many writers, including Yuson who became a Palanca Hall of Fame Awardee in 2001, winning once isn’t enough.

Lazarte plans to join “maybe four” categories next year. Young Taruc has her eye on dulang pambata and maikling kwento next. Canoy said, “Nakaka-inspire. This is a pat on the back and you rarely get that.”

Winners past and present agree: the thrill of victory doesn’t get old. “But I’m also inclined to believe that it’s not my ultimate goal. As long as I’m writing, that’s the goal for me,” said Dela Peña.

The awards are a celebration of the written word and a reminder of the role of the writer in these trying times. “The highest call of the wordsmith is to positively transform, transcend, liberate. To pierce through the darkness, noise and confusion of our times with a shaft of light that leads to the greater light,” said Cecilio-Palanca. “You have to honor the great truths that teach us important lessons to help make it a better world.”

“We writers have a role to play, as everyone does, to help everyone reach some quota for harmony,” Yuson shared.

“Think about it: every reader we somehow keep captive with our works becomes one less miscreant on the streets—at least during the act of enjoyment of the pages held in their hands.”

He had words of wisdom for the new breed of winners: “So keep saving and adding to your files, young writers, whether they’re digital or in hard copy, even scribbled on assorted sheets of paper. You’ll never know when you’ll be called upon to become the heroes of memory and valorous continuity—best of all, in helpful harmony with everyone.”