The Philippine Amusement and Gaming Corporation (PAGCOR) announced the 24 grand winners of its 2025 Photography Contest on Tuesday, with prizes totaling millions of pesos.

The nationwide competition drew nearly 4,000 entries from amateur and professional photographers under the Conventional, Mobile and Drone categories. This year’s theme, “Infrastructure for Economic Development,” highlighted the role of infrastructure in nation-building.

Eight grand winners in the Conventional category each took home P100,000 while 16 grand winners from the Mobile and Drone categories received P50,000 each. Consolation prize winners received P35,000 in the Conventional category and P20,000 in the Mobile and Drone categories.

PAGCOR chairperson and CEO Alejandro Tengco praised the winners and emphasized the agency’s support for Filipino creativity.

“Your extraordinary talent shows us that Filipino creativity is world-class,” Tengco said. “While PAGCOR’s primary duty is regulation, revenue generation and tourism promotion, we are equally proud of advocacies like this that nurture talent and give Filipinos the platform they deserve.”

He added that this year’s theme reminds them that “infrastructure is not just concrete and steel, but lifelines of progress that connect families, fuel industries and open doors to opportunities.”

Several winners were repeat winners from previous contests. Janice Tadoyo, a 2024 grand winner, once again took the top prize in the Conventional category. Marlo Demo-os, a 2024 grand winner, also returned to claim another victory in the Drone category. Celbert Palaganas, Aljon Tugaoen and Anthony Into were also recognized for winning in previous years.

Tengco announced that the theme for next year’s photography competition will be “Kids@Play,” which will highlight the moments of children at play and how these simple activities shape values such as discipline, persistence, sportsmanship and resilience.