Today I Learned: More Than 2,600 Writers Have Won the Palanca Award Since 1951
Learn more about its 75-year history through the address delivered by Criselda "Dang" Cecilio-Palanca.
Published on Nov 28, 2025
Another night of the annual Carlos Palanca Memorial Awards for Literature was held last November 26, but unlike the usual Palancas, this was marked by the celebration of its Diamond Jubilee.
Gracing the night as Guest of Honor/Speaker and Gawad Dangal ng Lahi awardee was Professor Emeritus Dr. Ruth Elynia D. Mabanglo. A poet, playwright, translator, and educator, she became the first woman inducted into the Carlos Palanca Memorial Awards for Literature Hall of Fame in 1995.
The Carlos Palanca Memorial Awards for Literature (a.k.a. Palanca Memorial Awards) was established in 1950, with prizes in Short Story (English) and Maikling Kwento (Filipino) handed out in 1951. It was named after Carlos T. Palanca, Sr., the Filipino-Chinese businessman and philanthropist. The award has since been held annually, except during the pandemic, which skipped two full years, making this only the 73rd ceremony amid the 75 years of existence. It has since been one of the country's sought-after literary honors with divisions in English and Filipino, and genres in Novel, Short Story, Essay, Poetry, One-act Play, and Full-Length Play.
The 2025 Carlos Palanca Memorial Awards for Literature was made even more significant by its record-breaking numbers:
Total number of entries - 2,359
Number of categories - 20
Total number of judges - 57
Total number of winning works - 58
Total number of winners - 54
New winners - 36
Former winners - 18
Male winners - 41
Female winners - 13
Age breakdown
20 and under - 8
21-30 - 13
31-40 - 15
41-50 - 9
51-60 - 8
61 and above - 1
The Carlos Palanca Memorial Awards for Literature, by the numbers:
Total number of winners (authors) from 1951 to 2025 - 2,634
Total number of winning works from 1951 to 2025 - 2,735
Total number of Hall of Fame winners (as of 2025) - 30
In the Sponsor's Remarks delivered by Criselda “Dang” Cecilio-Palanca, Vice-President of the Carlos Palanca Foundation Inc., she reflected on the remarkable growth and enduring legacy of the Awards—a journey that began with six winners in 1951 and has since honored over 2,600 authors. She also highlighted the success of the Diamond Jubilee year, which saw a record number of entries and celebrated the diversity of its winners, who ranged from a 15-year-old talent to a 64-year-old veteran.
Sponsor's Remarks:
Good evening, Director General Emeritus Mrs. Sylvia Palanca Quirino, National Artists for Literature Virgilio S. Almario and Gémino H. Abad, Palanca Hall of Famers, judges, winners, distinguished guests from the diplomatic corps, ladies and gentlemen. Welcome to the 73rd awarding ceremonies of the Carlos Palanca Memorial Awards for Literature.
So, we say 73rd but actually ... this is our 75th year.
Just think about that. 75 years.
And it all began on September 1, 1951, with the vision of one man—Don Carlos Palanca, Jr. One man who believed in the need to recognize and honor our country’s literary writers. Who understood that you cannot build a nation without supporting the people who are able to build national identity and pride, the artists and writers who ultimately touch hearts and minds.
I'm guessing no one among the winners or judges at the time could have foreseen these awards to carry on for this long, yet here we are, celebrating what in essence is ... our Diamond Anniversary.
It would have been understandable for anyone to not have imagined that these memorial awards—limited in scope then--would go on to benefit many generations of Filipino writers—indeed, Philippine literature itself— for three quarters of a century.
But it has.
Despite numerous challenges and various hurdles over the decades—including the recent pandemic that disrupted our annual cadence for two years. Which is why tonight we celebrate our 73rd awards ceremony ... within our astonishing 75 years of existence.
Some of you here, as repeat winners, judges, or guests, may recall that two years ago in 2023, what has come to be fondly known as “Palanca Night” underwent a venue change from our original home—the 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 milestones with a reverent nod to institutions that are unmistakable hallmarks of Philippine heritage.
Just like this historic venue where we celebrate tonight, the Palanca Foundation--also hopefully heading towards its first century--maintains its tradition of honoring a continuum of generations that are stalwarts of Philippine heritage.
From the first year’s awards that honored Filipino writers in English and Filipino who created the best short stories and one-act plays, what was established as an annual affair in 1951 steadily expanded its scope and involvement in contemporary Philippine literature—to eventually include several of our native languages and additional categories of creative writing.
The original genres for the first year of the Palanca Awards 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 Carlos Palanca Memorial Awards for Literature 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 this diamond jubilee year, 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. There were 38 new winners and 20 former winners, with 44 male winners and 14 female winners. Eight (8) of the winners were aged 20 or under, with 13 in the age bracket of 21-to-30; 15 in the age bracket of 31-to-40; and 12 in the age group of 41-to-50. Nine (9) winners were from 51 to 60 years old, while beyond that, there was one more winner. Our most senior awardee this year, male, is 64 years old, while our youngest winner is a female writer at 15 years old.
The introduction of the Hall of Fame Awards in 1995 established a premier set of standards that stands for unquestionable excellence. That it requires winning the First Prize five times makes it so.
We have also honored writers with the Dangal ng Lahi Award, which further grants the privilege of delivering the keynote address for the year’s festive celebration.
At present, these bewildering times may have convinced most of us that the world is experiencing so many new challenges. As we move past the first quarter of the first century of the 21st millennium, we find ourselves facing the unforeseen and unexpected.
While we had often contended with mostly gradual global developments and managed to keep pace with elements that we imagined we would encounter only at a future time, we recognize that that future has come quicker than anticipated, pressing us on to accomplish new feats of agility and resolve. We realize that we cannot afford to stay stuck in our comfort zones in the midst of a fast-evolving and ever-confounding landscape.
We see before our eyes a swift passing of the digital torch through generations, even as we grapple with the increasing incursion of Chat GPT and AI into writer territory--for better or for worse.
Recent years have introduced fresh terminology, bringing us to such new and confounding facets of emotional, intellectual, philosophical, and moral discourse. We hear of existential threats, inflection points, cognitive bias, and transformative technology. “Resilience” has become a favored term (if not overused by now). What about ... "performative" ... and there are such variants of “narrative arcs" ... and "tweaked suppositions.”
More recent infusions to the language of learning and awareness have included “intimacy coordinators” when referring to private entertainment. And homegrown activism has come up with “nepo babies” ... "lavish lifestyles” — these as virtual “triggers” for seething anger. You know ... that "all-essential rage" fueling our thriving and inescapable online ecosystem.
I could go on and on, but thankfully, we have long understood the equation between crisis and opportunity. These features of seeming social chaos and conflict can now compel writers to embrace such situations that require dramatic if not subtle resolution. The spurious story can still be uncovered in favor of a truthful universal theme.
In having to forge literature that keeps in step with the times, we rely on creativity that relies on fresh imagination. And we must remain confident that it remains as progressive as heroic efforts to do battle with the illusions, conflicts, and complexities that lie ahead.
Seventy-five (75) years of a hallowed tradition can only spur the Filipino writer to be as courageous in determining new ways to chart inventive paths for the attainment of literary fulfillment and authenticity.
Given this resolve, we should look forward to completing a century of welcoming first-time winners in this yearly competition, for whom this special rite of passage will be of memorable significance. Repeat winners will always be welcome, of course, no matter which generation they may represent. After all, the Carlos Palanca Memorial Awards for Literature hopes to continue to be a timeless fount of opportunity, positive expectation, and generous harmony among torchbearers of succeeding generations.
On behalf of the Palanca family, thank you for commemorating this 75th year of the Carlos Palanca Memorial Awards for Literature with us. Thank you to the organizers and visionaries who worked tirelessly and faithfully through the decades to bring us to our Diamond year.
Most of all, we thank God, author of the Word, the eternal Scriptures, which, according to the Guiness Book of World Records, has outcirculated and outsold every written manuscript with its enduring influence and relevance to this day.
May we all be inspired by its truth, timelessness, and message of hope. That man does not live by bread alone but by every word that proceeds from the mouth of the Author of Life.
As the 2025th anniversary of Jesus Christ’s birth draws near, we remember Him who brings light to darkness, the reason for the season as written in the gospel of John:
“For God so loved the world that He gave His only begotten Son so that everyone who believes in Him should not perish but have eternal life”.
Thank you, Lord, for that ringing promise. Thank you for your talents and for sharing YOUR light, as we all share in the heritage marked by this Diamond Anniversary—the gift of our 75th year. Thank you all ... for celebrating with us tonight.
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