Deadline for submission of entry to marine photo contest nears

MANILA, Oct. 4 (PNA) - East Asian nationals have until Dec. 31 this year to submit their entries for the East Asian Seas (EAS) Congress Regional Photo Contest.

This will enable judges to shortlist between Feb. 1 to 15 next year entries per country so they can proceed with the final judging on April 10.

Partnerships in Environmental Management for the Seas of East Asia (PEMSEA), a regional coordinating mechanism for implementing the Sustainable Development Strategy for Seas of East Asia, and computer giant HP Philippines aim to announce the winners' names on April 22.

PEMSEA and HP launched the contest in July this year.

The contest's theme, 'The Coast, The Ocean, My Community,' aims to generate more interest in coastal and governance at the local level.

It also seeks to hike public interest in the EAS Congress that PEMSEA as well as Department of Environment and Natural Resources are organizing for November 2009 in Manila.

Nationals from Brunei, Cambodia, China, Democratic People's Republic of Korea, Indonesia, Japan, Lao People's Democratic Republic, Malaysia, Republic of Korea, Singapore, Thailand, Timor-Leste, Vietnam and the Philippines can still join the contest, PEMSEA coordinator Magnolia Uy said.

"These countries have coastal management concerns also like the Philippines," she said.

The judges will choose one grand prize winner each from the youth, hobbyist/amateur and professional categories.

"The three grand prize winners will have complementary registration for the EAS Congress next year," Uy said.

She noted contest proponents will also provide them air fare and accommodation as well as an HP F4185 printer each.

Entries must be the contestants' original work which have not been published, sold commercially, awarded or cited before.

These entries must be neither obscene nor subjected to photo manipulation like multiple exposures also.

Contestants can submit as many black-and-white as well as colored entries as they want.