With storytelling skills honed through classroom reports, a fourth-year student from Sauyo High School in Quezon City was crowned “king” in the first-ever Inquirer Read-Along Festival Storytelling Competition.
Quemer Bagaporo, 15, read “Bruhaha! Bruhihi!”, a story about a little girl who thinks her neighbor is a witch, written by Ompong Remigio and published by Adarna House.
The competition was part of the two-day Inquirer Read-Along Festival held at GT-Toyota Asian Cultural Center on the University of the Philippines campus in Diliman, Quezon City, from November 28 to 29.
Bagaporo bested six other performers who were randomly chosen from among 18 finalists. A total of 35 aspirants—aged 12 to 57 years old—underwent prescreening sessions held at the Inquirer office in Makati City on Nov. 19 and 26.
“This is my first time to join a competition like this. But whenever we have a class report in school, we do it as if we are telling a story. So I was somehow trained for this,” Bagaporo said after his coronation.
Singer-host Gary Valenciano, one of the festival’s celebrity readers, conferred the award on Bagaporo with a special crown and sash, a P25,000-cash prize and a limited edition Inquirer Swatch watch.
Panel of judges
Composing the panel of judges in the final competition were Rich Rodriguez from Alitaptap Storytellers Philippines, Ann Abacan from Sophia School and Dyali Justo from Adarna House.
In the prescreening sessions, the judges included Inquirer Read-Along volunteer storyteller Grig Montegrande, volunteer hosts Ruth Navarra and Louie Bacani, Justo’s daughter Luntian, Inquirer Read-Along writer Kate Pedroso and overall coordinator Minerva Generalao.
The criteria for judging were as follows: 15 points for poise and stage presence; 15 points for voice; 15 points for intro, pacing or tempo, and ending; 25 points for delivery, reading technique, and style; and 30 points for overall impact.
The last day of the festival on Tuesday drew hundreds of schoolchildren from De La Salle-Zobel, St. Joseph Catholic School, Napico Elementary School, UP Integrated School, Old Balara Catholic Community School, Al-Salaam Peace Community, Service for Peace Volunteers, Xavier School, Seed Montessori School and Sto. Nino Parañaque School.
Students from Nagpayong Elementary School also attended the festival with their principal Divina Gaerlan.
Valenciano, a returning Inquirer Read-Along storyteller, gave his own version of the popular Filipino folk tale “Ibong Adarna,” complete with sound effects and a humming song depicting the enchanted bird. Providing him technical assistance was SoundCheck Inc.
Miniconcert
He also sang a medley of his hit songs to the delight of his young audience who chanted his name, sang along and danced to his beat at the final stretch of the “mini-concert” that highlighted his reading segment.
Valenciano also told the children about his battle with diabetes since he was a teenager.
“The only thing I regret is not doing this more often because I used to tell stories to my children when they were all growing up, almost every night,” he said in an interview.
“I was hoping I could do more. It’s nice when it’s intimate. The kids really pay attention. I can give them a few songs and give them a few real stories like I did awhile ago about my diabetes,” he added.
The festival was capped by a “Fright Night” storytelling session that featured tales that teach children how to overcome their fears.
Comedian Jon Santos read “Pedrong Walang Takot” by Christine Bellen and published by Anvil Publishing.
“It makes me feel like my skills can really have a purpose. It’s always extra-special when I touch children’s hearts because I’m used to doing shows for grown-ups. That self-doubt is felt a little more when my audience consists of little kids, so when I pull it off it’s extra-rewarding,” Santos said.
UST students
Members of the University of Santo Tomas Communication Arts Students Association (UST-Casa) gave the kids quite a scare when they recited “Luis and the Enchanted Creatures,” a story written by Marcy Dans Lee and published by Adarna House.
“Casa shares the advocacy of the Inquirer and believes that, while they are still young, children should be taught how to read and to read in a fun way so that they won’t have this adverse reaction toward books, especially in today’s age of technology,” said Nicky Salandanan, a professor at the UST Faculty of Arts & Letters.
Alitaptap storyteller Rey Escasinas read “Ang Tikbalang Kung Kabilugan ng Buwan” by Virgilio Almario and published by Adarna House.
Day Two of the festival also featured a Junior Inquirer-led session featuring the winners of the recent Alitaptap-Lampara storytelling contest and members of Trumpets Playshop, who told stories about love, respect and generosity.
Rafael Cortel, a student from Padre Gomez Elementary School and Alitaptap-Lampara Level 2 champion, read “Junior” by Sheila Gonzales-Dela Cuesta and published by Lampara Publishing. It’s about a boy who wants to know why he doesn’t look like anyone in his family.
Level 1 champion Amanda Benedicto, a Grade 3 pupil at St. Theresa’s College, read “Mahal Kita, Inay” by Segundo D. Matias Jr. and also published by Lampara. The story is about a girl named Teresa who realizes that her mother’s repetitive reminders are all acts of unconditional love.
Readers Irene Delarmente and Joann Co from the gospel theater group Trumpets read a story from Africa titled “Dad is Eating Ashes” from the book “Our Story Magic” by Gcina Mhlophe.