Thursday, July 03, 2008 Seares: Plaridel By Pachico A. Seares News Sense
WHEN Ann Lopez of Institute of Journalism & Communications said AIJC would nominate me for University of the Philippines System's Gawad Plaridel 2008, there were things I didn't know about the award.
I didn't know:
--organizers would ask for information I thought was only required to get one to a rarefied place like Mt. Olympus;
--there's only one awardee each year and the four past awardees were all female (Eugenia Apostol, print; Vilma Santos, film; Fidela Magpayo, radio; and Cheche Lazaro, television) and female, last time I checked, I'm not;
--the awardee has to deliver a full-blown lecture.
Signed pledge
They were serious about the lecture because I had to sign a notary-ready pledge. And all I loved to do was pick up the trophy, say thanks, and flee.
I've been doing lectures, mostly at U.P. Cebu and in seminars, but not in a hall that seats 800 people with beautiful minds.
I thought the lecture was the only hard part (six drafts, 3,150 words). I was wrong. A film crew from Manila asked colleagues and me to say on camera nice or smart sound bites.
The film will be great, I'm sure, but making people speak under video duress might not produce the most honest testimonials.
You know what else organizers asked? "A biography." I said I don't have that, not even an autobio.
They settled for an article by the great Mayette Q. Tabada, for which I had to give the longest interview in my life.
And that's not all. U.P. Diliman’s Lynette Quintillan warned me Napoleon Abueva's Plaridel trophy is heavy. "Really heavy," she said.
I'll know for sure tomorrow, or earlier if they allow me to hold it without doing the lecture.
