University of the Philippines (UP) Kalilayan set electoral literacy as the theme for the 33rd installment of its annual flagship event, Tagisan, in light of the upcoming midtermelections in May.
Dubbed as “Books and Ballots: Championing Youth Involvement in Electoral
Literacy,” this year’s Tagisan aims to raise awareness about the importance of citizen-oriented voter education and the different roles the Filipino youth hold during elections.
“[It’s] very timely, I think, also very significant kasi the event deals with the youth who has, more than ever, a bigger voice now through social media. Educating the youth about electoral literacy indirectly unlocks their ability to influence the people around them to vote,” said Tagisan 33 Project Head Clarence Gabriel Kasilag.
More than 250 teachers and junior high school students from Quezon province participated in the event where students competed in different contest categories such as essay writing, pagsulat ng sanaysay, poster making, impromptu speech, dagliang talumpati, quiz show, and debate.
Quezon Science High School topped the overall ranking of the event, claiming the new Tagisan revolving trophy which features silhouettes of Mt. Banahaw and Mt. Cristobal which are found in Quezon, the Baybayin letter ‘Ka’ which stands for Kalilayan, and the Tagisan logo at the top.
International School for Better Beginnings and Manuel S. Enverga University Foundation Candelaria were hailed as first and second runners-up respectively.
Participants who placed first, second, and third will proceed to Patalasanlahi 2019, a national inter-high school competition that will be held in the University of the Philippines Diliman, except for the debate category where only the first place winners are qualified to participate in the said event.
Tagisan 33 was held in Maryhill College of Lucena in Lucena City last February 17.
“As far as the goals of the event itself, I think it is successful,” commented Kasilag after evaluating the event.
UP Kalilayan is a recognized socio-cultural organization of students from the provinces of Quezon and Aurora in the University of the Philippines Diliman.
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