The Carlos Palanca Memorial Awards for Literature made a grand return to the Philippine International Convention Center to celebrate its illustrious 72nd year.

The prestigious event honored some of the country’s finest writers across various genres and categories and proudly inducted new additions to its Hall of Fame.

The Palanca Hall of Fame is an elite circle of awardees who have achieved the remarkable feat of winning First Prize five times, in any writing category.

It now has 30 honorees following the inclusion of four distinguished writers: Eros Sanchez Atalia, Mikael de Lara Co, Miguel Antonio Alfredo V. Luarca, and Joshua Lim So, cementing their legacy in Philippine literature.

The awards also honored achievements across 22 writing categories, including the Novel and Nobela categories.

Remarkably, 31 new names were recognized among a total of 54 awardees in four divisions: Kabataan, English, Filipino and Regional Languages.

All entries were meticulously evaluated by a respected panel of literary luminaries.

Gracing the night as speaker and Gawad Dangal ng Lahi awardee was director Jun Robles Lana.

An internationally acclaimed Filipino filmmaker, Lana boasts of an impressive portfolio of local and international accolades, including 12 Palanca Awards prizes and his induction into the Hall of Fame in 2006.

His award-winning films include “Anino sa Likod ng Buwan,” “Die Beautiful,” “Kalel, 15,” and “About Us But Not About Us.”

Lana’s achievements underscore his immense contributions to both Philippine literature and cinema.

The Palanca Awards stands as the longest-running and most prestigious literary competition in the Philippines.

The esteemed event maintains a tradition of encouraging writers to nurture and develop Philippine literature.