DPC-PLDT opens first online voting for visual arts contest

MANILA, Philippines - The annual telephone directory cover contest organized by Directories Philippines Corp. (DPC) and the Philippine Long Distance Telephone Co. (PLDT) has attracted more than 1,000 entries from students of 82 schools nationwide.

With the theme “Only in the Philippines,” this year’s competition is looking for the best portrayal of Filipino pride captured in a photograph.

From the traditional painting medium, DPC-PLDT pushes the boundaries and shifts to photography as a new medium for the competition.

“For 25 years, the DPC-PLDT Visual Art National Competition has been featuring paintings, but this year we changed the medium to photography which is the trend used by the youth to express their creativity,” said Anna Ybañez-Lucas, DPC senior product manager.

“This is our way of opening the competition to more students, promoting and displaying their creativity and innovating the image of DPC Yellow Pages Print Directory as a relevant search tool for Filipinos,” she added.

The 1,000 photos entered have been trimmed down to 50 that depict not only the theme but also what would best grace the cover of the coming directory. This year, part of the judging of winners will include online voting, another first for the DPC-PLDT competition.

The online voting would comprise 10 percent of the total score of the contest. The photograph that garners the most number of votes will receive a special award from eYellowPages, DPC’s Internet directory platform.

The best 50 entries may be found at www.juice.ph/visualarts2012. Polls are open until March 5; click on the “view finalists” button to check out the top 50 works.

The remaining 90 percent of the total score will come from a renowned panel of judges.

Five winners will receive cash prizes, including P100,000 for the grand prize winner, a trophy designed by National Artist Napoleon Abueva and the chance for their winning snapshots to grace the covers of the 2012-2013 DPC-PLDT telephone directories.