Young Filipino Writers Put AI-and "Nepo Babies"-Under the Microscope at the Palanca Awards
Two Grade 11 students from Gubat National High School in Sorsogon just took top honors at the country's most respected literary competition. Their essays go straight at the tension most writers feel today: how far to let AI into the creative process-and what gets lost when it pulls too hard.
Their work, along with 56 other winning entries chosen from 2,359 submissions, lit up the 75th Carlos Palanca Memorial Awards for Literature-an anniversary year that drew veterans and first-timers into the same room.
The sinigang test: where craft meets convenience
Joshua Manio won first prize in Kabataan Sanaysay with "Tamang Pagluto ng Sinigang (The Right Way to Cooking Sinigang)." His frame is simple: tamarind versus instant mix. One builds depth. The other is fast.
His point for writers is clear: treat AI like a microwave, not a chef. It can reheat your ideas, but it can't replace taste learned by fire and repetition. Lean on it too much and the flavor thins out.
Waves, distance, and the cost of overreach
Classmate John Carl Guardian took first prize in Kabataan Essay with "The Salt Sermon," set on Dancalan Beach with Mang Lino, a tahong vendor and storyteller. One line from the shore sticks: when the sea pulls too far back, something is about to leave.
Applied to writing with AI, it's a warning: if the tool pulls you too far, your inner maker starts to recede. The draft may get cleaner. The voice might not.
Why this matters to working writers
- Use AI as kindling, not the fire. Brainstorm, outline, summarize. Then switch to human pace for the sentences that need skin in the game.
- Ground abstractions in the concrete. A bowl of sinigang or a retreating tide says more about authorship than a thousand tech takes.
- Protect your voice. If a paragraph reads smooth but feels hollow, you outsourced too much. Rewrite from memory, not from prompts.
- Mind the mental health layer. Some students called AI an "alternative therapist." Useful in a pinch, sure-but it's a tool, not care. Know the line.
- Engage the moment. Buzzwords like "nepo babies" surfaced in the entries because they spark real talk. If a trend touches your beat, interrogate it-don't chase it.
Inside the room: judges, signals, and a bold statement
Judges noted a surge of entries that treat AI as a deeply personal presence-people aren't just using it; they're confiding in it. That's a cultural shift worth writing through, not around.
Onstage, Criselda "Dang" Cecilio-Palanca urged writers to keep pace through fresh imagination. And cultural worker Rouchelle Dinglasan made the night's sharpest visual: a red-lettered call-"Ikulong na 'yan mga kurakot"-across her eight-month baby bump as she accepted third prize for the Filipino one-act "Dantay sa Patay."
Film scholar Ed Cabagnot cut to the essence: young Filipinos are still facing hard issues head-on-and doing it with sheer creativity. That's the job.
What to steal for your practice
- Design constraints. Give yourself a "tamarind vs. mix" rule for each piece: where will you allow convenience, and where must you cook slow?
- Make a shoreline check. Before you file, ask: did AI pull me too far? If yes, reclaim one page by hand. Keep that page.
- Feed the metaphor. Start drafts from lived images-flavors, textures, places, jobs. Let tech commentary grow from there, not the other way around.
- Ship to stages that matter. Contests force clarity. Deadlines harden voice. Consider submitting next cycle.
For context on the awards and categories, see the official site: Carlos Palanca Memorial Awards.
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