P10, 000 FIRST PRIZE IN ILOKANO POETRY CONTEST

A friend who has been writing "daniw" (poem) in Bannawag, the weekly magazine, has expressed surprise at the "big" cash prizes offered by the sponsor of Severino and Eufemia Lacar Commemorative Award in Iluko Poetry: P10,000 first prize; P7,000 second prize and P5,000. third prize. He said that even if his poems were

published on a weekly basis in the so-called Biblia ti Amianan, he could not earn that much in one year. We say "Amen" because we, too, before the editor banned us, have been writing in the magazine for as long as we can remember. If he can publish weekly in the magazine, he is lucky. Why "lucky"? Because he could be a friend of Cles Rambaud or a gang member of Jose Bragado and his son-in-law. They are the exclusive writers of Bannawag. One thing about Bragado: he was the president of Gumil Filipinas, the national association of Ilokano writers, when the Gumil House was being erected in Suso, Sta, Maria, Ilocos Sur. During a conference (Arturo Padua, bless his soul, was there) of Ilokano writers in Suso, Sta. Maria, Ilocos Sur, Bragado was asked how the money was spent--at least P500,000 was spent for the construction of the building, according to the GF Financial Report. Where are the receipts for the purchase of materials? Where is the plantilla? How many workers started the project? Their rate per day? Could Bragado explain how the money of the writers was spent? His explanation before writers in the annual conference: dig the foundation (of the Gumil House) because that's where most of the money was spent. They just laughed him off. The writers knew that the father-in-law of Cles Rambaud was lying.