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Timonera is the only Mindanawon among four winners. Contest organizers received a total of 119 entries for the professional category and 36 for the amateur category. Vicente Jaime Villafranca, a freelance photographer who covers Malacanang and contributes to foreign news agencies, won first prize for “School Bound,” a photo of four girls “whose eagerness to get an education would not be dampened by anything even as violent as the beheading of the Marines,” Newsbreak online magazine said. Timonera’s entry, taken during a peace rally, is that of an old woman in black carrying a flaglet with this message: “Peace, where are you?” Villafranca will receive P25,000 cash prize while Timonera will get P10,000. In the amateur category, Ma. Danielle Millanes Arafol of Las Piñas City won the cash prize of P15,000 for her photo of children during a rehearsal break for “Kalilintad” (Peace), a development play she helped stage. Pepito Frias of Rodriguez, Rizal, won the second prize and P5,000 for “Different But One,” depicting a family of Christians and Muslims praying together. The board of judges included Colin Crorkin, deputy head of mission of the British Embassy in Manila; Andrew Picken, director of the British Council Manila; Romeo Gacad of Agence-France Presse; and Glenda Gloria, managing editor of Newsbreak.The criteria for judging: 20 % for technical quality; 20 % artistic composition; 40 % cultural and social relevance; and 20 % emotional appeal.
All entries to the contest are now part of the British Embassy’s photo bank, to be used in their “Engaging with the Islamic World” program, but copyrights will remain with the individual photographers. (MindaNews)