Philippine embassy launches Tagalog story writing contest

August is the “Buwan ng Wika” (“National Language Month”) in the Philippines and the Philippine Embassy in Abu Dhabi launched on Aug. 1, the first-ever “Tagalog Children’s Story Writing Contest” with the ethical and effective use of the ever-expanding and influential Artificial Intelligence (AI) as a key element.

Announced over the official Facebook Page of the diplomatic mission, the contest open to Filipino nationals, 18 years old and below, across the UAE, is “pursuant to Proclamation No. 1941 Series of 1997.”

Theme is “Wikang Filipino at AI: Kasangkapan sa Pananaliksik at Tulay sa Yaman ng Impormasyon” (“The Filipino Language: A Research Instrument and a Bridge to a Wealth of Information”).

Proclamation No. 1941 refers to the decision of the late Philippine President Fidel V. Ramos (1992-1998) to extend the traditional August “Linggo ng Wika” (“National Language Week”) to the month-long celebration.

“Linggo ng Wika” is that time when pupils and students don their Philippine traditional clothes or variations, while one-day school programmes are competitions on traditional songs, dances, and games.

Another competition is the “Balagtasan,” the poetic debate on any topic, inspired by and in honour of Francisco “Balagtas” Baltazar (1788-1862), the “Master of Tagalog Poetry” from Bulacan province.

From 1946 and under the late President Sergio Osmena (1944-1946), the “Linggo ng Wika” was celebrated between March 27 and April 2 relative to the Balagtas’ birth anniversary.

The current observance was decided on in 1955; during the 1953 to 1957 President Ramon Magsaysay Administration. It was based on the Aug. 19 birth anniversary of Philippine Commonwealth President Manuel L. Quezon (1935-1944), a Filipino-Chinese-Spanish mestizo, whose decision that Filipinos must have their own national language amidst the numerous indigenous, Chinese, Spanish and English languages, led to the creation of the National Language Institute that birthed the Filipino language, the base of which is the Tagalog language.

On Monday, Ambassador to the UAE Alfonso Ferdinand Ver, in an entirely Tagalog message to Gulf Today, associated the application of AI to the continuing usage of the Filipino language for the benefit of the Filipino youth.

Thus, the writing contest, with the “original and unpublished” entries, “free from any copyright or intellectual property violations,” to be electronically submitted over [email protected], on or before Aug.21 (Friday). Ver wrote: “Instrumental to the advancement and enrichment of the Filipino language is the unabated growth of technology, particularly Artificial Intelligence.

“In the context of encouraging our third culture children, to understand and more importantly use the Filipino language confidently, AI is greatly influential because through it, are the unstoppable design and creation of relevant educational materials on the Filipino language.

“AI is a valuable research tool because through it, users from all segments of the society would be able to get not only into the basic information but also on the depth of the evolution of the Filipino language which is vital for today’s effective and substantial information communication and dissemination.

Ver is hopeful: “As Filipinos in the UAE continually adapt all technological and AI developments in their daily lives, the future generations would not eventually become AI savvy but also become judicious communicators who use their own Filipino national language and proud of their Filipino identity.”

On the contest, the Tagalog children’s story, accompanied by an AI-generated illustration, must promote Filipino heritage and values or meaningful life lessons, appropriate for ages 12 and under. Word count is 500 maximum.

Participants must indicate the AI platform/s used and provide a brief description of how AI assisted in the development of the entry or story such as brainstorming ideas, editing, improving language, or generating illustration prompts.

Judging criteria: creativity, originality, relevance to the theme and promotion of Filipino values and culture, quality and proper use of the Filipino language, and effective and ethical use of AI.

With the submissions, the participants “grant the Philippine Embassy in Abu Dhabi permission to publish, reproduce, and use the submitted stories for cultural and educational activities, with proper acknowledgement of the author.”