MANILA, PHILIPPINES — Communications group COMCO Mundo League of Enterprises has finally concluded “UNMASKED: The COMCO Mundo Write to Ignite Initiative Season 3” with the announcement of the program’s Top Storytellers in a virtual awards night held recently.
Following the success of its first and second seasons, the initiative recently returned for a third season to continue empowering storytellers across the nation by collating and amplifying their powerful stories that champion the human spirit. Write to Ignite Season 3 brought to light amazing stories previously untold, unheard, or underrated.
By pushing participants beyond their comfort zones and asking them to feature tales of triumph, success, and perseverance from other people they are connected to, work with, or know, the initiative was able to pull back the mask of everyday heroes from various walks of life and to share their heartwarming journeys and inspiring perspectives in life.
Numerous participants from all over the Philippines participated in the challenge, with 40 finalists emerging to lead the journey. These finalists were invited to a Virtual Awarding Ceremony, where the top 20 storytellers were declared.
Iris Acosta of Pinay Ads from Caloocan City emerged as the Grand Champion for her entry “Unmasking Strength: A Journey of Resilience and Hope” about her mom’s battle against cancer. Other winners in the top five include first runner-up Gretchen Filart of Our World in Words from Sta. Maria, Bulacan, for her entry “Championing Biodiversity Against The Odds: Environmentalist Celine Murillo, Unmasked” which is about the journey of environmentalist Celine Murillo and her advocacy for the conservation of biodiversity and natural heritage through storytelling; second runner-up Katrina Rivera of Kwento ni Kat from Talisay City, Negros Occidental, for “Wrist Tags, Bananas in Pajamas, Masks, and All the Things That Can Keep Us Alive” which is about her friend Nikka and her battle with lupus; third runner-up Mauie Flores of The 24-Hour Mommy from Cainta, Rizal, for “UNMASKED: The Amazing Faith and Courage of a Fabulous Ausome Mom” which is about her churchmate’s journey raising her three children in the autism spectrum; and fourth runner-up Marjorie Pineda-Uy of Woman in Digital from Quezon City for “UNMASKED: God Loves You ‘As Is’” which is about her aunt’s experience living with disability.
The top five winners were also given an opportunity to support their selected accredited non-government organization through donations as part of the prizes they won. Grand Champion Iris chose to support Save the Children Philippines, first runner-up Gretchen picked Philippine Eagle Foundation, second runner-up Katrina selected Make-A-Wish Foundation, third runner-up Mauie partnered with SOS Children’s Villages, and fourth runner-up Marjorie identified Philippine Animal Welfare Society (PAWS) as beneficiary.
The Grand Champion won PHP 40,000 and two international round-trip tickets from airasia. The rest of the top five winners won cash prizes, PHP 20,000 for the first runner-up; PHP 15,000 for the second runner-up; PHP 12,000 for the third runner-up; and PHP 10,000 for the fourth runner-up. The top six to 20 finalists are bringing home cash prizes while all the top 40 finalists are receiving merchandise items from sponsors and participating brands.
“We started the Write to Ignite initiative amid the pandemic. It was timely back then, and it still is up to now. At a time when our social media has become a tool for the proliferation of fake news, trolling, organized bashing, hate campaigns, and black propaganda, we go back to the very essence and roots of blogging, which is authentic storytelling. This is what a real blogger does. We trust and believe that they uphold the very essence of the practice, sharing the truth through inspirational writing and storytelling. This is why we are proud of the Write to Ignite bloggers, content creators, and storytellers as once again, they were able to demonstrate that the platforms they use can be, and should be, used for positive social change,” said Ferdinand Bondoy, Group Chief Executive Director and Lead Strategic Communications Counsel/Partner and Co-founder of COMCO Mundo League of Enterprises. “It was a challenge to have to write someone else’s story, but our Write to Ignite storytellers were able to accomplish that and even exceed expectations. All entries and stories were very valuable and worthy of being read, shared, and recognized.”
