Brief History of Ammoyo

There is no better time than now to enlighten our student writers that through the use of their pens, they can create changes for this country. The College Editors Guild of the Philippines firmly believes that it is the duty of every student writer not only to write about truths but also to make themselves instruments of meaningful social transformation.

Ammoyo 2010: The 9th La Union Student Press Congress cum Convention of the College Editors Guild of the Philippines-La Union Chapter is an endeavor to mark a more active campus press here in La Union and reaffirm our commitment to uphold the highest standard of journalism and defend campus press freedom.

Ammoyo, which came from an old iloco term which loosely translate to bayanihan among peasants, was first launched in 2002 as a platform to unite the various student publications of La Union to one common goal – to defend campus press freedom. The first Ammoyo served as a venue to reorganize CEGP’s La Union chapter to better confront the challenges of the modern campus press.

From then on, Ammoyo became an annual event for the campus press of La Union.  It became a venue to promote journalism, literary excellence and effective leadership amongst local young writers and leaders by enhancing their writing and leadership skills. It served as a venue to enlighten the student writers and leaders on current events so that they may be encouraged to tackle these in their writings and participate in other related activities.

 Not only did Ammoyo become a venue to hone the skills of the budding writers but most importantly it served as a venue to reaffirm the convictions of Guild members to defend and advance campus press freedom in the province.

 In recent years, Ammoyo expanded its reach and became a gathering of student writers not only of La Union but also of the entire Ilocos region.

Gawad Manuel Arguilla

Throughout the years, Ammoyo also served as a venue for student journalists to understand current socio-political issues and integrate this understanding in their literary writings. In this light that Ammoyo also became a platform to launch Gawad Manuel Arguilla, CEGP-La Union’s annual literary contest for student writers in honor of the late Manuel Arguilla. 

Manuel Arguilla, who was born in Nagrebcan, La Union, is considered one of the greatest Filipino fiction writers who oftentimes painted vividly the life of the common Ilokano in his stories. Arguilla was also once a student writer who first became one as an editor of the La Union Tab, the student paper of the La Union National High School.

Manuel Arguilla died a hero-martyr in the hands of the Japanese colonizers while serving the guerilla movement.

Gawad Manuel Arguilla, now on its 4^th year, is CEGP-La Union’s way of invoking the same spirit and characteristics of Manuel Arguilla in todays’ young writers.