The Foundation for the Advancement of Life and Insurance Around the World (FALIA) and the Philippine Life Insurance Association, Inc. (PLIA) collaborated on a project titled “Essay Writing Contest for Filipino Senior High School Students on the Importance of Life Insurance”. A media launch of the contest was done on 28 September 2016 at the Insurance Institute for Asia and the Pacific. The awarding ceremony was held on 18 April 2017 at the I’M Hotel, Makati Avenue corner Kalayaan Avenue, Makati City.
[A] The rules that governed the contest are as follows:
APPLICANT ELIGIBILITY
The contest is open to Filipino citizens enrolled as senior high school students in SY2016-2017 in one of the schools selected for the pilot program.
CONTEST THEME
Achieving a Happy Life through Effective Financial Planning and Insurance
TOPICS
- How does life insurance strengthen the foundation of my family?
- How does life insurance help an individual attain his/her life and financial goals?
- How does life insurance contribute to an individual’s economic well-being?
GUIDELINES
- Students who are interested to submit an essay must attend the lecture organized in the school or view the materials and videos provided in the website knowledgecommunity.ph.
- All essays must be written in English, typewritten in black ink using Arial, font size 11, double-spaced and must not go beyond three (3) pages of short bond paper.
- Each essay must be submitted with an Entry Form that can be found in knowledgecommunity.ph. Any entry without the Entry Form, which includes a certification by their teacher/principal that the entry is an original, unpublished work, will be disqualified.
- Only one entry per student every year is allowed. Each entry must be the work of only one student. The student must properly acknowledge and cite all sources.
- Essay entries must be original and unpublished. The copyright for all winning entries will be assigned to the contest organizers. Participants agree to allow the contest organizers, FALIA, PLIA and KCI to use their names, photographs and essays for promotional and publicity purposes.
- Any essay found to be plagiarized will be automatically disqualified and the student will be prohibited from entering any future competitions.
- By entering the competition, participants agree to be bound by these rules and the decisions of the contest organizers.
CRITERIA
Content 50%
Organization of thoughts and flow of discussion 20%
Style (originality, creativity, sentence structure, word choice, audience recognition) 20%
Mechanics (grammar, spelling, punctuation) 10%
Total 100%
PRIZES
Three (3) Grand Prize winners and their school academic coordinator or principal will receive an all-expenses paid trip to Japan plus a P10,000 cash prize for each student.
Three (3) Second Place Winners will each be awarded PhP30,000 each.
Ten (10) Third Place Winners will receive P10,000 each.
[B] The following schools participated:
| Item | Area | School Type | Name of School | No. of Entries | Coordinator |
| Metro Manila | |||||
| 1 | Manila | Public | Jose Abad Santos Senior High School | 10 | Mr. Robert P. Velasquez PrincipalMr. Manny Hernando |
| 2 | Makati | Public | Makati High School | 10 | Mrs. Evangeline N. Apolinario PrincipalMs. Venus Mariano |
| 3 | Makati | Private | Makati Hope Christian School | 10 | Mr. Wellie E. Eglorianin Principal, Senior High School DeptMs. Christelle Cui |
| 4 | Makati | Science | Makati Science High School | 10 | Mr. Samuel C. Bulan PrincipalMr. Mark Anthony Vidali |
| 5 | Mandaluyong | Science | Mandaluyong Science High School | 2 | Dr. Teresita E. Evangelista PrincipalMrs. Lavelyn Resurreccion |
| 6 | Manila | Public | Manuel A. Roxas High School | 1 | Mr. Fernando B. Oriñez Principal |
| 7 | Makati | Public | Nemesio I. Yabut Senior High School | 6 | Ms. Eden Samadan PrincipalMs. Teresa Baltazar |
| 8 | Makati | Public | Pitogo High School | 3 | Dr. Dominico C. Idanan OIC Principal and Schools Division SuperintendentMs. Jasmin A. Acera |
| 9 | Manila | Public | Raja Soliman Science and Technology HS | 10 | Dr. Imelda M. Mendez Principal |
| 10 | Manila | Private | St. Scholastica’s College Manila | 5 | Dr. Rebecca Cacho Principal, Senior High School |
| Provincial | |||||
| 11 | Laguna | Public | Alaminos Integrated National High School | 2 | Mr. Santiago F. Fajilago, Jr. PrincipalMr. Jomel Suaze |
| 12 | Cavite | Public | Congressional National High School | 10 | Ms. Josefina A. Briñas PrincipalMs. Eloida Rosel-Espeña |
| 13 | Cavite | Public | Dasmarinas National High School | 8 | Mr. David E. Atas PrincipalMr. Reynaldo F. Dinampo |
| 14 | Cavite | Public | Francisco Barzaga National High School | 10 | Mr. Ryan C. Villanueva PrincipalMa. Erika A. Ilagan |
| 15 | Laguna | Public | Liliw Senior High School | 5 | Ms. Nenita B. Arca Principal IIMs. Violet Villanueva |
| 16 | Laguna | Public | Lumban Senior High School | 10 | Dr. Melba Real OIC Principal and Public Schools District SupervisorMrs. Wanvienna Garcia |
| 17 | Cavite | Public | Paliparan Senior High School | 10 | Mr. Francis Kenneth Hernandez PrincipalMr. Carlo Salcedo |
| 18 | Laguna | Public | Siniloan Integrated National High School | 8 | Mr. Arturo R. Moreno PrincipalMs. Salvacion Realeza / Ms. Icy Princess Trencio |
Media Launch
Awarding Ceremony
Japan Trip of Winners
The top three winners and their teacher-coaches, along with PLIA GM George Mina, travelled to Tokyo, Japan on May 22-26, 2017 under the sponsorship of FALIA.
The Japan trip winners were:
| School | Student | Teacher/Coach |
| Makati Hope Christian School | Jacques Clarisse Orros | Christelle Cui |
| Makati Science High School | Sydney Claudelle Aguba Patricia Anne Remonte |
Marjorie Gomban |
Activities and places visited:
The delegation also made a courtesy call to the Philippine Embassy in Tokyo and had a short sit-down with Ambassador Jose C. Laurel V.
A visit to a Japanese school, the Shinagawa Girl’s High School, enabled the student-winners to observe the Japanese school system and dialogue over lunch with a select group of English-capable Japanese students.
