COTABATO CITY (March 1, 2023) — The Ministry of Basic, Higher and Technical Education (MBHTE) organized the 1st Salah Jubair Essay Writing Contest on Tuesday, February 28, 2023 at Cotabato State University in this city.
The essay writing competition was part of the week-long celebration of the 4th Founding Anniversary of BARMM or Bangsamoro Foundation Day last January 19–27, 2023 with a theme “Sama-samang Pagtataguyod sa Isang mas Mapayapa at mas Masaganang Bangsamoro.”
Education Minister Mohagher M. Iqbal emphasized in his special message to the participants that not all will become winner, however, he underscored that failure is indeed part of their success.
“All our contestants in two categories, hindi mangyayari yung, all of you will win, but faillure is the part of success, so if you want to succeed, you must do it and accept that failure is part of success,” said Iqbal.
The activity aims to give junior high, senior high, and tertiary students in the Bangsamoro Region a platform to share personal stories and examine the impact of the Bangsamoro transition period on the lives of young people and how it shapes their vision and plans for the future.
The Education Ministry received almost 700 entries that were submitted online, which were shortlisted into 274 qualified entries.
Three (3) judges were chosen to assess entries for each category. Out of all the finalists, only 11 were able to compete in the on-the-spot essay writing contest with the theme “Bangsamoro with BARMM now.”
The winners received the following cash prizes:
Champion: PhP75,000.00
1st Runner Up: PhP50,000.00
2nd Runner Up: PhP25,000.00
Consolation prize: PhP5,000.00
The following were the lists of winners per category:
Junior High School Category
Champion: Fayeza Muizz E. Paniorotan (Cotabato City)
1st Runner Up: Fiona Nicole C. Relucio (Basilan)
2nd Runner Up: Beulah Elisha B. Tarroza (Basilan)
Senior High School Category
Champion: Nadira Afraa A. Asiri (Sulu)
1st Runner Up: Shahanna Macalawan (Cotabato City)
2nd Runner up: Aster-Jinn C. Aragones (Basilan)
Tertiary Category
Champion: Aldammien A. Sukarno (Tawi-Tawi)
1st Runner Up: Sharifa Safrina G. Buttongah (Cotabato City)
2nd Runner Up: Al-fatah Panginma Abdullah (Cotabato City)
The winners were very happy and thankful that they were blessed to be part of the competition named after a renowned Bangsamoro writer, historian, and the Moro Islamic Liberation Front (MILF) who is also the chairman of the Committee on Information, Central Committee, and Chair of Peace Negotiator Salah Zubair.
Mohagher Iqbal, who used the pen name Salah Jubair, has authored three books, Bangsamoro, a Nation Under Endless Tyranny, The Long Road To Peace: Inside the GRP-MILF Peace Process and Negotiating Peace. (Nhor-Hamen S. Aplal/BMN-USM BSIR Intern/Photo by Ali-Emran U. Abutazil/BMN/BangsamoroToday)
