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Here are the earliest entries to our Tigerair Boracay and Palawan photo contest. To join the contest, read this.

Entry #1. Palawan. Taken by Gerry C. with a Canon 550D. “Our boat guide navigating through the cathedral-like stone entrance to the so-called “secret beach”.

Entry #2. Taken by Lloyd V. with an iPhone 4s. “It was around 8 in the morning of November 3, 2013 (days before Yolanda) when my family and I boarded a boat at the Port of Coron, Palawan. It was our first trip together after so many years. I took this photo while we heading for the first island on our island-hopping tour.”

Entry #3. Taken by Lloyd V. in November 2013 with an iPhone 4s. “This island was the first of the series of islands we visited in Coron. My family and I stayed on this island for thirty minutes, during which we snorkeled and got tangled amongst the seaweeds.”

Entry #4. El Nido, Palawan, June 2013. Taken by Gerry C. with a Canon 550D. “One of the sentinel-like stones jutting out of Bacuit Bay in El Nido, Palawan.”

Entry #5. Boracay, April 2008. Taken by Gerry C with a Canon Powershot. “Took this photo on my third morning in Boracay back in 2008. I wanted to join these men as they jogged along White Beach, but I was intimidated so I just took pictures instead.”

Entry #6. Taken by Jerlen C. with a Samsung Galaxy S4. “This photo was taken in Coron, Palawan at the Club Paradise Resort (May this year). It was my first time in Palawan.”

Keep sending your photos. The next set of finalists will be posted on Thursday.

This contest is sponsored by Tigerair Philippines. To find out more about Tigerair deals and promos, follow TigerAir Philippines on Facebook and Twitter.

This is George Tapan’s photo of Onok Island in Balabac, Palawan, winner of the 2011 National Geographic Photo Contest.

Have you been to Palawan? Boracay? Was it fabulous? Did you have a great time? Show us the proof, and if we’re really impressed, we’ll give you a free ticket to one of these Tigerair destinations.

Here’s how to join our Tiger Travel to Palawan/Boracay contest.

1. Pick the best photos you have personally taken in Palawan or Boracay.
2. Email them in jpeg files of not larger than 1MB each to koosi.obrien@gmail.com. Include your full name, a brief description of what’s in the picture, when and where you took it, and with what camera or phone.
3. You can submit up to ten photo entries, but send only one photo per email. (So ten photos would require ten emails.)
4. Entries will be accepted until noon on 27 December 2013.
5. Finalists will be posted here on Tuesdays and Thursdays until the deadline.
6. The winner will be announced here on 30 December 2013. The prize is a Tigerair domestic travel voucher covering one round trip to Puerto Princesa, Palawan or Kalibo, Aklan (But you could also use it for a round trip to other Tigerair domestic destinations: Cebu, Iloilo, Bacolod or Tacloban).

This contest is sponsored by Tigerair Philippines. To find out more about Tigerair deals and promos, follow TigerAir Philippines on Facebook and Twitter.

In the first of our monthly Tigerair contests, we asked readers to answer this question.

We received some very interesting answers. We like this one best because it responds directly to the most pressing needs of Tacloban’s people while making sure they play a dynamic role in their city’s recovery and transformation.

Rebuilding is a complicated process. My suggestions are for Tacloban or a similar urban area and can be implemented in the next 6 months:

8. Rebuilding assistance of various organizations, such as Habitat for Humanity, Gawad Kalinga, and the like must be coordinated with the LGU so that their construction projects will be in compliance with the urban plan that the city has formulated.

So our winner is the boomerang kid. Congratulations, you receive a Php5,000 voucher from Tigerair Philippines that you can exchange for a round-trip ticket to any of their domestic destinations. We’ll email you instructions for collecting your prize.

The next Tiger Test will be posted on Friday. Join our Tiger Test to win free tickets to Tigerair destinations.

This contest is sponsored by Tigerair Philippines. To find out more about Tigerair deals and promos, follow TigerAir Philippines on Facebook and Twitter.

For the November LitWit Challenge, we asked readers to write a letter to Andres Bonifacio, whose 150th birthday we marked last Saturday.

maelynda wrote a formal, respectful letter about her personal acquaintance with the life and legacy of Bonifacio, the gaps in our education, and our national failure to deal with our revolutionary past.

the boomerang kid wrote a poem about Bonifacio in rhyming quatrains. Nice effort, but it reminds us of grade school declamation contests.

Solace sent Bonifacio a bunch of questions, then says she/he doesn’t know much about Bonifacio. Why write to him then? (‘Because this is a contest’ is not an answer.) The tearing of the cedula is emphasized in a manner that suggests it is the only thing the writer knows about Bonifacio.

regtol opens with a cute greeting (‘I thought you’d also be a Scorpio’), as if this were a pitch for a romantic comedy. He proceeds to hurt our eyes with purple prose and naive assumptions that would not be out of place in a high school literary magazine.

lizagaspar also makes cute and addresses the Supremo as an equal. She also has not read much about Bonifacio, or she would know that he didn’t actually win any battles with his bolo. Then she says ‘My writing is good’ and proceeds to contradict herself.

The winner of the November LitWit Challenge is maelynda. Congratulations! You win Php1,000 in gift certificates from National Bookstore. Please post your full name in Comments (It won’t be published). We’ll alert you when you can pick up your prize at the Customer Service Counter of National Bookstore at Power Plant Mall, Rockwell, Makati.

Update: maelynda, you can pick up your prize tomorrow. Call first; their number is (02)8974562.

The LitWit Challenge is brought to you by National Bookstore.

Ala-ala ng Bayang Filipino sa mga Bayani ng 96, the monument in front of Vinzons Hall at UP Diliman

On 30 November 2013, we mark the 150th birthday of Andres Bonifacio, the Father of the Philippine Revolution.

What became of Bonifacio’s revolution? What is his legacy? Does Andres Bonifacio matter in the 21st century? If he does, why is the manner of his death still a mystery to us? Why don’t we know for certain where he is buried? Why aren’t we sure those are his bones? Why have we not dealt with the fact that he was killed by his own allies? Why has there been no justice for Andres Bonifacio?

For this LitWit Challenge, write a letter to Andres Bonifacio. Choose your topic. The letter can be as long or as short as you wish. Post it in comments by 11:59pm on 1 December 2013. The winner (and the prize) will be announced on 3 December 2013.

This LitWit Challenge is brought to you by National Bookstore.

Rescue and recovery operations in the areas obliterated by Typhoon Yolanda are well underway. Donations have been pouring in from local and foreign sources. The residents of Tacloban, Guiuan, the stricken areas, have started picking up the pieces, literally. It’s time to give serious thought to the task of rebuilding.

The task is huge. It seems insurmountable. It will take years and years. It must be done.

How do we rebuild a devastated city and make it better? Send us your brightest ideas. We’d like some practical, workable solutions, but we’re never averse to far-out schemes from the science-fiction universe. Post your answers in Comments.

Our judges will select the brightest idea, and its sender will receive a Tigerair gift voucher worth Php5,000, good for a round-trip ticket to any Tigerair Philippines domestic destination. Tigerair flies out of NAIA 4 to Bacolod, Cebu, Iloilo, Boracay (Kalibo with transfer to Caticlan), Puerto Princesa and Tacloban.

Post your bright ideas in Comments. We’re accepting entries till 30 November 2013.

This contest is sponsored by Tigerair Philippines. To find out more about Tigerair deals and promos, follow TigerAir Philippines on Facebook and Twitter.