Category: Contest

7-Year BARMM Heritage and Identity Photography Contest

Terms and Conditions

By participating in the 7-Year BARMM Heritage and Identity Photography Contest (PAMANA 2026), all contestants acknowledge that they have read, understood, and agreed to comply with the following Terms and Conditions:

1. Eligibility

The contest is open to amateur and professional photographers who are residents of the Philippines. Non-Filipino participants may join provided they are legal residents of the Philippines and all submitted photographs were taken within the Philippines. Participants must be at least 18 years old at the time of submission. Employees, officers, executives, members of the organizing and partner institutions, members of the judging panel, and their immediate family members are not eligible to join. Only individual entries are allowed. Group entries are not permitted.

2. Contest Categories

Participants may submit entries under the following categories:

• Identity

• Culture

Each photograph must be submitted to only one category.

3. Photo Submission Rules

All photographs must be personally taken by the contestant within the Bangsamoro Autonomous Region in Muslim Mindanao (BARMM), including Lanao del Sur, Maguindanao, Basilan, Tawi-Tawi, Cotabato City, and the 63 barangays in North Cotabato. Photos must be taken from January 7, 2026 onwards and must not have been previously published in print or online. AI-generated or AI-assisted images are strictly prohibited. Multiple entries are allowed, provided each entry is submitted separately.

4. Technical Specifications

Photos must be in JPEG or PNG format and must not exceed 10MB in file size. No watermarks, logos, or copyright marks are allowed. Only minimal digital enhancements such as cropping, color correction, contrast, sharpness, and burning/dodging are permitted. Judges may request original or RAW files for verification.

5. Ethical and Legal Compliance

Written consent must be obtained if identifiable individuals, families, or organizations appear in the photograph. Entries must not contain offensive, defamatory, or unlawful content. The organizers reserve the right to disqualify entries that violate contest rules or objectives.

6. Submission Requirements

Each submission must include the photographer’s full name, email address and/or mobile number, contest category, location where the photo was taken (barangay and city/municipality), month and year taken, and a caption or description of no more than 100 words written in English or a local dialect.

7. Copyright and Usage Rights

Photographers retain ownership of their photos. By submitting an entry, participants grant the organizers a non-exclusive, royalty-free, perpetual right to use, reproduce, edit, and publish the photograph for advocacy, educational, promotional, and documentation purposes with proper credit.

8. Judging and Awards

Entries will be judged based on relevance to the theme, creativity, visual impact, storytelling, and technical quality. Judges’ decisions are final and non-appealable. Judges may opt not to award a prize if submissions do not meet standards.

9. Prizes

Grand Prize: PHP 10,000

2nd Place: PHP 7,000

3rd Place: PHP 3,000

10. Timeline

Photo Submission Period: January 7–31, 2026

Awarding Ceremony: February 20, 2026

11. Agreement

Submission of an entry signifies full acceptance of these Terms and Conditions. The organizers reserve the right to amend or cancel the contest as necessary.

Submission form: https://form.jotform.com/260038512993863

PAMANA 2021 PHOTO CONTEST

The Office of MP Rasol Mitmug Jr., in partnership with the Bangsamoro Commission for the Preservation of Cultural Heritage, in celebration of the National Heritage Month, presents PAMANA Photography Contest 2021: Upholding Bangsamoro Heritage and Identity. This competition provides platform to our visual storytellers in line with our objective to preserve the Bangsamoro heritage and raise awareness and appreciation among the younger generation on how enriched the culture is, and get a glimpse of what needs to be addressed in relation to our cultural heritage for potential social impact.

The Bangsamoro has a rich and fascinating history of cultural heritage with its distinctive traditions, artworks, craftmanship, entrepreneurial spirit and cultural diversity—making part of their identity and authenticity. Preserving this culture amidst modernization is, indeed, a major challenge. Preserving this culture amidst modernization is, indeed, a major challenge. So we invite you to show us places and scenes that showcases Bangsamoro heritage. These may be photos of current-day historic sites, people engaging with historic themes, or simply landscapes that are connected to local history. Your photos may also feature nature, architecture, daily life, activities, traditions, challenges, Pilgrimage, Resilience, Landscape, Food, Migration or Art & Festivals. Capture a landmark from an uncommon angle, a familiar landscape at a unique moment, or people and objects that are often out of frame. You can be creative as you like.

Please read the guidelines and mechanics below, and register to join.


Upholding Bangsamoro Heritage and Identity

Submission Period:  April 30 – May 21, 2021

The photo contest aims to raise public awareness on the Bangsamoro’s rich cultural heritage and to promote discussion on how legislators/policymakers and the community can work together for its conservation and protection. This is also to gain insight on any sites which may need further recognition from appropriate government offices or agencies, or immediate attention from its respective LGU for intervention, etc.  

Three (3) Contest Categories 

  1. Tangible Local Cultural Heritage
  2. Intangible Local Cultural Heritage
  3. Natural Heritage

Prizes

The prizes for the Best Photos are as follows:

Grand Prize: P10,000

2nd Place: P8,000

3rd Place: P3,000

People’s Choice Award: P5,000

 

Timeline:

Photo Submission Period: From April 30, 2021 to May 21, 2021

Uploading of Shortlisted Photos for Public Voting (People’s Choice):  From May 25 to May 29, 2021

Notification of Winners: June 1, 2021

Awarding Ceremony/Event: June 4, 2021

 

Mechanics:

Contest Rules, Terms and Conditions

Contest Period:  The contest website will be open to accept entries from Friday, 30 April, 2021.  The deadline for submissions will be Friday, 21 May 2021 at 11:59 pm.

Background:  The Bangsamoro has a rich and fascinating history of cultural heritage with its distinctive traditions, artworks, craftsmanship, entrepreneurial spirit and cultural diversity—making part of their identity and authenticity. Preserving this culture amidst modernization is, indeed, a major challenge.

Contest Categories.  The photo contest will have four thematic categories.

  1. Tangible Local Cultural Heritage—The photograph should show either movable cultural heritage (paintings, sculptures, clothing/ textiles, accessories, literature, crafts, etc.) or immovable cultural heritage (monuments, archaeological sites, architecture such as buildings, houses, and structures, underwater ruins, etc.) within the five (5) provinces of the Bangsamoro Autonomous Region: Lanao del Sur, Maguindanao, Basilan, Sulu, and Tawi-Tawi, including Cotabato City and the 63 barangays in North Cotabato. It may also highlight how said heritage is being maintained or preserved through either government initiative or individual and/or community efforts.
  2. Intangible Local Cultural Heritage— The photograph should be a portrait of a Bangsamoro (a person or people) hailing from the five (5) provinces of the Bangsamoro Autonomous Region: Lanao del Sur, Maguindanao, Basilan, Sulu, and Tawi-Tawi, including Cotabato City and the 63 barangays in North Cotabato who has extensive knowledge of intangible local cultural heritage (such as oral stories, , oral poetry, values, laws, norms, rituals, traditions, dances, songs, myths, beliefs, superstitions, and other various forms of traditional knowledge). 
  3. Natural Heritage—The photograph should depict natural sites with cultural aspects such as cultural landscapes, physical, biological or geological formations within the Bangsamoro region (such as private and publicly protected natural areas, zoos, aquaria and botanical gardens, natural habitat, marine ecosystems, sanctuaries, reservoirs, etc.).

How to Join:

  1. Visit: https://rasmitmug.com/main/pamana-2021-photo-contest/
  2. Read the Mechanics
  3. Agree to the Terms and Conditions
  4. Fill-up Submission Form
  5. Like and follow our FB page to get updates: http://fb.com/AttyRasMitmug

Mechanics:

Your Photograph.  The photos should have been taken personally by the contestant in the Bangsamoro.   Each contestant can submit as many entries as they like, but each entry must be in a separate submission.  Below are other specifications for the photograph:

  • All digital files submitted must be no larger than 10MB.
  • All photos must be in JPEG or PNG format.
  • The photograph should not have been previously published electronically (online) or in print.
  • Photographs that have been digitally altered beyond standard optimization will not be accepted. Only minimal adjustments are allowed (contrast, sharpness, burning/dodging, cropping and color correction).
  • No watermarks, copyright units or logos are allowed.
  • If the photograph focuses on an individual, a family or an organization, the contestant should obtain the consent in writing to the public release of the photograph from the individual, family or organization.
  • No entries using advertising or offensive images, or those that violate laws will be allowed.
  •   The judges or contest administrators will disqualify or exclude any photos that they deem inappropriate.
  • Images not complying with these parameters will be disqualified. The judges reserve the right to ask for unedited/raw images.
  • The judges may choose not to award a prize in a category if the entries do not meet the standards of the competition.

Copyright.  By submitting a photograph to the competition, the contestant (a) grants the organizers of the competition rights to edit, use and publish the photograph, and (b) certifies that using the photograph will not infringe on any privacy, copyright or other intellectual property rights of third parties.

Submission of Entries:  Each submission must comply with the following requirements.

  1. Photograph should include:
    1. your personal details:
      1. name, 
      2. email address, and/or
      3. mobile number; 
    2. the Contest Category the photograph is being entered in; 
    3. the location where the photo was taken (barangay; city or municipality) and month and year when the photograph was taken
    4. a caption/short description that conveys a compelling message (maximum of 100 words) of the photograph in English or the local dialect, including details of when, where, what; and
  2. Entry is free and open to photographers, both amateur and professional, who are residents of the Philippines.  No group entries are permitted.  Non-Filipinos are welcome to join the contest, but they must be legal residents of the Philippines and captured photos in the Philippines.  The photographer should have a valid national ID or international passport for verification purposes during claiming of prizes.
  3. By submitting an entry, the contestant agrees to all of the competition rules and conditions (See Terms and Conditions)
  4. Any officer, executive, or employee of the above-listed partner organizations, and their immediate family members, as well as any person involved in the selection process for this photo competition, are not eligible to join the contest 

Selection Process: 

In selecting the winners of the photo contest, there will be several stages:

Stage Process 
1st PRELIMINARY SCREENING In each of the three contest categories, the 20 best entries will be identified by a Screening Committee constituted by the Contest Organizing Staff. Screening will be based on the compliance of the author and the photo in the Terms and Conditions.   The top 20 entries in each category will go on to the next stage of the competition.
2nd SELECTION OF CATEGORY WINNERS

A Category Judging Panel (3 members) will be convened for each contest category from among the partner organizations; each Category Judging Panel will decide on the top three entries in the category and their respective ranking, from among the 20 entries submitted for review.  The first-ranked entry in each category will be considered as the category winner and will proceed to the final round of selection.  

Criteria:

  • Adherence to the category theme (20%);
  • The ability of the photograph to convey a compelling message to stakeholders and/or policy makers (45%); and
  • The composition, clarity and quality of the photograph (35%). 
3rd SELECTION OF OVERALL WINNERS

The three category winners will then be evaluated and rated by the Overall Judging Panel (3 members) based on a new set of criteria (see below). The scores given by the 3 judges will determine the final ranking of the photos and the winners of the three cash prizes.

Criteria: 

  • Content and relevance to the theme (35%);
  • Artistic value and communication potential, social impact of the image (35%);
  • Technical excellence and quality (30%).
4 SELECTION OF PEOPLE’S CHOICE WINNER Shortlisted photos will also have a chance to win the “People’s Choice Award” based on the most number of public votes (‘likes’). Photographs competing for this award will be posted on the official page, tagging the user who submitted. 

The winners of the competition will be notified by email no later than 1 June 2021.  An event will be scheduled shortly thereafter to announce the winner of the competition.

Refer to the Terms and Conditions, Privacy Policy and FAQs:
https://drive.google.com/drive/u/1/folders/1TePtnBI9ZOEZYwBZyB9E5Iz6Ly0_JC6t

Submission Form: https://pamana.rasmitmug.com