The Philippine Amusement and Gaming Corporation (PAGCOR) announced on Tuesday, September 23, the 24 grand winners of its 2025 Photography Contest during an awards ceremony at the agency’s corporate office in Pasay City.
With the theme, “Infrastructure for Economic Development”, this year’s nationwide competition drew nearly 4,000 entries from amateur and professional photographers under the Conventional, Mobile, and Drone categories.
The theme highlighted the pivotal role of infrastructure in nation-building.
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.
– Alejandro H. Tengco,
PAGCOR Chairman and CEO
Eight grand winners in the Conventional Category each took home Php100,000, while the 16 grand winners from the Mobile and Drone categories received Php50,000 each.
Consolation prize winners in the Conventional Category were awarded Php35,000, while finalists from the Mobile and Drone categories received Php20,000 each.
PAGCOR Chairman and CEO Alejandro Tengco lauded the winners and underscored the agency’s continuing support for Filipino creativity.
“Your extraordinary talent shows us that Filipino creativity is world-class,” Mr. 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.”
Mr. Tengco added that this year’s photo contest theme “remind us that infrastructure is not just concrete and steel, but lifelines of progress that connect families, fuel industries, and open doors to opportunities.”
This year’s Conventional Category winners were Maxwell John Bongo (Harvesting Sunshine: Powering Progress); Jerson Flores (Cascading Flow); Victor Kintanar (Link); Zaldy Asama Jr. (Signal Beneath: Unveiling the Birth of Metro Manila's First Subway); Rolando Entero Jr. (Bridge Bathed in Gold); Rey Johnino Carinugan (Highway to Your Heart); Emman Foronda (The Dual Purpose of Madongan Dam: Farming and Fun); and Janice Tadoyo. (Currents of Progress).
In the Mobile Category, the winners were Fausto Francis Baraga (Starry Bridge); Mark Louis Balmores (Subway in the Metro); Jose Kent Punay (Shaped by the Sea, Built for the Skies); Christian Paolo Flores (The Iconic Biliran Bridge); Celbert Palaganas (Pillars of Promise); Henzon Estrada (Power from the Wind, Strength from the People); Tiffany Joyce Acod (A Solitary Windmill Above the Restless Sea); and Jenelle Justalero (Bridging Light and Land).
The Drone Category winners were Reu Dawner Flores (The Height of Progress); Anthony Into (Where Nature Embraces Progress); Roi Anwar Abarintos (Suspended in Stillness); Jayson Gorme (Earthworks); Noel Eusebio (Solar Panel Cleaning Time); Marlo Demo-os (Flow of Progress); Aljon Tugaoen (Lighting Up the Future); and Rayzamae Vasquez (Tulay-Tulong).
Several of the winners have also been recognized in previous editions of the contest.
Janice Tadoyo, Conventional Category grand winner in 2024 for “Danggit Fishing,” once again captured the top prize this year with “Currents of Progress.”
Marlo Demo-os, Drone Category grand winner in 2024 with “Subsistence Fishing,” returned to claim another victory in the same category.
Celbert Palaganas, Mobile Category grand winner in 2023 for “Remnants of the Golden Past,” is once again among this year’s Mobile winners.
Meanwhile, Aljon Tugaoen, who was a Conventional Category winner in 2023 with “Over and Under the Rocks of Pangil,” won this year in the Drone Category, while Anthony Into, 2023 Mobile grand winner for “Green Dots of Hope,” also secured a Drone Category award with “Where Nature Embraces Progress.”
Mr. Tengco also announced that the theme for next year’s photography competition will be “Kids@Play”, which will highlight the unadulterated moments of children at play and how these simple activities shape values such as discipline, persistence, sportsmanship, and resilience.
