LAST Friday, the results of the 2025 Padya Leoncio P. Deriada Para sa Panulatan (Open Category) were announced by the Division of Humanities of the University of the Philippines Visayas. My entry, The Memory of Forests and Other Poems, was adjudged the Second Prize winner.
The news arrived quietly. No drumroll. No ceremony. Just a simple announcement on the Facebook page of the UPV Division of Humanities after months of waiting.
The Padya Leoncio P. Deriada Para sa Panulatan was established by UPV to honor Dr. Leoncio P. Deriada — a Palanca Hall of Famer, a multilingual writer, and a figure widely regarded as the Father of Contemporary West Visayan Literature.
The award aims to continue his lifelong work of nurturing writers across languages and regions, affirming his belief that literature must grow from memory, place, and community.
To many, Sir Leo is an institution.
To me, he is memory.
I consider him a mentor, and I count myself among his writing disciples.
I first met him in 1997 at MSU–IIT, when I was a writing fellow at the 4th Iligan National Writers Workshop. I was young then, still finding my voice. Dr. Deriada was a giant of a man — tall and broad in build — yet he carried his stature lightly. He critiqued with clarity and quiet authority; his words were exacting, but never unkind.
Looking back, I realize how fortunate I was to have attended the 1997 INWW, for three of our panelists would later be declared National Artists for Literature: Bienvenido Lumbera (2006), Cirilo F. Bautista (2014), and Gemino H. Abad (2022).
In 2000, I was again fortunate to be a fellow at the 37th UP National Writers Workshop held at UP Visayas in Miag-ao, Iloilo. I still remember the overnight boat ride from Cebu City to Iloilo — the dark sea, the steady hum of the engines, and the anxious excitement of a young writer traveling alone.
When the boat docked at dawn, Sir Leo was there at the port to meet me.No fanfare. Just presence.
It was also Sir Leo, then poetry editor of HomeLife Magazine published by St. Paul’s Publications, who first published my poems in a national magazine. A young writer never forgets who first opened that door.
In 2004, I saw him again in Cebu City during the 2nd Panagsugat–UP VisMin Creative Writing Workshop held at Ecotech in Lahug.
Time had passed, but his generosity had not.
That is why this year’s announcement felt personal.
In November last year, I submitted a suite of ten poems to the Padya Deriada contest. Then came the waiting.
This year’s board of judges included distinguished writers and scholars: Dr. Jose Wendell Capili of UP Diliman, Prof. Danilo Francisco “DM” Reyes, and Dr. Hope Sabanpan-Yu of the University of San Carlos.
To be read by such minds is already an honor.
When the results were released and my work was named the Second Prize winner, I felt gratitude more than triumph.
Last year was generous as well. I won the Grand Prize in a poetry competition sponsored by Kaliwat ni Karyapa, a Bohol-based literary organization dedicated to promoting Visayan literature.
But not every submission bears fruit. I also entered the 7th Satur Apoyon Tigi sa Sinulatay og Sugilanon. My entry did not make it.
You win some.
You lose some.
That is the rhythm of a writer’s life.
The danger comes when a writer begins to depend on applause. If writing exists only for prizes, it will not survive silence. The real work happens before the announcement — in the drafting, the revising, the doubting, and in daring to submit.
To me, the primary calling of a writer is to write.
Joining — and even winning — contests is secondary.So if you are a writer, just write.
Email me at rgmoldez@gmail.com
