Ten article entries have been submitted to the First Pozorrubio Essay/Expository Writing Contest. Behind the authors of the entries are impressive backgrounds: PhDs, masterals, cum laude candidate in UP, professor in La Consolacion Universiy, an outstanding physician awardee, ABS-CBN anchor, school principal, a US-based multi-awarded Information professional in the US, a UP graduate, editor-in-chief of a newspaper, consultant of governance, etc. The entries are currently under evaluation by judges representing diverse sector of the community. Hopefully, before the end of this month, the judges' verdict will be transmited to the sponsors, who will be preparing the plaques, certificates, and cash prizes.

The entries will be judged as per the criteria set in the rules of the Contest published earlier, and to what extent authors have answered the theme question posed in the Contest rules.

I remember the darapilan (sugar cane mill) in a Buneg farm…

A young farmer prepared a pile of harvested sugar canes for processing. He also got ready his strong kalabaw (carabao) for a half-day work in the darapilan. The kalabaw worked itself very hard so the long sugar canes could be processed and produced into what we called sinakob. When the kalabaw stopped working, the machine of course stopped. As a metaphor, the kalabaw was the lead in the success of this activity, although behind the scene one could think of the young farmer as the lead, who fulfilled that needed human intervention. Without the kalabaw, or even without the machine that ran the darapilan, there would be no products. In turn, the sinakob or the sub-products like patopat were sources of income for the Buneg farmers.