PHLPost launches letter writing tilt

THE Philippine Postal Corp. (PHLPost) invites students, 15 years old and below, to join the 42nd Universal Postal Union (UPU) International Letter Writing Competition for Young People.

The winning piece will be sent by PHLPost as the Philippines’ official entry in the worldwide letter writing competition to be held in Berne, Switzerland.

The contest is an annual event organized by PHLPost under the auspices of the UPU, an organization composed of 191 countries around the world where the Philippines is an active member.

PHLPost promotes letter writing to make the youth aware about the role of the postal service in the society and to foster affection for writing letters despite the modern modes of communication.

The theme of the competition is “why water is a precious resource,” which coincides with the International Decade for Action “Water for Life” 2005–2015.

The compositions must be recent, original and written in English according to the theme of the competition. It must not exceed the limit of 800 words in length in the form of a typed letter.

Entries must contain the elements of a letter, place and date, addressee’s address, opening and closing salutation and signature.

On a separate sheet of paper, the participant must indicate the following information: number of words of the letter, complete name and address, gender of candidate, age and/or date of birth, colored 2x2 photo, name and address of school/grade or year level and contact numbers (telephone/mobile phone).

Prizes

Winners will receive P15,000 cash (first prize), P10,000 (second prize) and P5,000 (third prize). All winners will also be getting medals, plaques and albums of Philippine stamps.

The criteria for judging are relevance to the theme of the competition (30 percent), imagination and originality of the contents (20 percent), a good style of writing and communication (20 percent), an extensive vocabulary (20 percent) and youthfulness of tone (10 percent).

All entries must be mailed at any post offices nationwide by express or registered mail not later than Oct. 9 and addressed to the Office of the Assistant Postmaster General for Operations, c/o Jocelyn E. Cacho-special project officer, 3/F Philippine Postal Corp., Liwasang Bonifacio 1000 Manila.

For more information, one may visit the PHLPost website at www.philpost.gov.ph or UPU at www.upu.int/letter writing/en/index.shtml, or call 527-0108, 527-0059 or 527-0074.