MANILA, PHILIPPINES — Award-winning and trailblazing communications, digital and public relations agency ComCo Southeast Asia continues its mission in igniting social change even amidst the quarantine economy by holding the 1st Philippine-wide “Write to Ignite Blogging Project.”
The “Write to Ignite Blogging Project,” ComCo Southeast Asia’s latest initiative co-presented by Eastern Communications and sponsored by Electrolux, Jobstreet and Teleperformance, is a response to the need of our times, as every story comes a long way especially during this period of crisis. An initiative open to bloggers in the Philippines, it aims to highlight the triumph of the human spirit by encouraging them to share their challenging journey and reflections during the COVID-19 pandemic.
Bloggers were invited to a storytelling competition where they could share their own plights, experiences and life lessons through their blogs. As they submit their stories, ComCo Southeast Asia evaluated all blog entries and selected the Top 40 Storytellers based on writing and creativity (70%), use of media (25%) and blog engagement (5%).
The initiative received an overwhelming response from the blogging communities all over the country. More than 70 bloggers from Albay, Bacolod, Baguio, Bulacan, Cavite, Cebu, Davao, Dumaguete, General Santos, Iligan, Ilocos Sur, Iloilo, Laguna, Metro Manila, Quezon Province, and Rizal participated in the cause.
Winning the Write to Ignite Blogging Project are: Kurt Comendador of Kuku Notebook from General Santos at 1st Place, Carla Araniego of Blissful Guro from Malabon City at 2nd Place, and Cris Ruffolo of Lady with Backpack from Liloan, Cebu at 3rd Place. All of them received cash prizes (PhP 20,000 for 1st Place, PhP 15,000 for 2nd Place and PhP 10,000 for 3rd Place), Electrolux CompactGo Bagged Vacuum Cleaners and merchandise items from participating brands. Consolation prizes were also given to the top 40 storytellers.
Part of the prize of the top 3 winners is the opportunity to donate PhP 10,000 to any of the charitable institution or non-government organization (NGO) accredited by ComCo Southeast Asia. These are Humanility, SOS Children’s Villages, and World Vision Philippines’ COVID-19 Emergency Response.
Participating blogs were evaluated by an elite pool of judges composed of distinguished professionals in the fields of communications, marketing, digital and social media, and advocacy. Chaired by Ferdinand Bondoy, Regional Integration and Chief Executive Director of ComCo Southeast Asia, the board of judges also include:
- Ken Abadiano, Marketing Manager of Dragonpay
- Ana Arcega, Lead Copy Writer of Jobstreet
- Bea Castro, Brand Communications Specialist of Eastern Communications
- Carl Cuevas, Marketing Communications Officer of UnionBank
- Via Del Rosario, Marketing Communications Assistant Manager of Electrolux
- Elaine Gallardo, Marketing Communications Manager of Sun Life Asia Service Centre
- Joan Icotanim, Brand Communications and Administration Director of ComCo Southeast Asia
- Tricia Cusi Jimenea, Business Development and Market Expansion Director of ComCo Southeast Asia
- Genesis Lamigo, Communications Manager of World Vision
- Nadine Leoncio, Brand Lead of AirAsia
- Kai Pioquinto, Marketing Communications Manager – Asia Pacific of Emerson
- Maia Melencio, Partnerships & Resource Innovations Manager of Unilab Foundation
- Rachel Syfargo, Brand Communications and Operations Director of ComCo Southeast Asia
- Kathreen Joy Velandres, Brand Manager of Primer Group
- Lynn Ventenilla, Senior Director of Communications and Marketing of Telepeformance
- Gregg Yan, Director and Founder of Best Alternatives
“What can we do? This is the question that gave birth to the Write to Ignite Blogging Project. We want to do something for the blogging community so they could share their stories and truly write again. We want their readers and the nation as a whole to be inspired about these stories and how can these ignite them to move forward. We thought of how our brand partners could extend the things they do during the quarantine economy and reach out to their publics. And we are overwhelemed with everyone’s response. I guess people are looking for something to connect to, to realize that their plights are not different from the rest, and to spark their souls. And I can see that by connecting to one another and working together, we will can soon rise from this crisis,” said Ferdinand Bondoy.
“Write to Ignite Blogging Project” was made possible by ComCo Southeast Asia, with Eastern Communications as co-presenter, and with Electrolux, Jobstreet, and Teleperformance as major sponsors.
To know more about ComCo Southeast Asia and its initiatives, please visit www.comco-hq.com or follow www.facebook.com/comco.southeastasia on Facebook, linkedin.com/company/comco-hq on LinkedIn, and @comco_sea on both Instagram and Twitter.
