Art for Our Seas: West Philippine Sea Poster Contest

Official Instructions and Mechanics

I.        Overview

The Art for Our Seas: West Philippine Sea Poster Contest aims to mobilize student-artists to promote fact-based, pro-Philippine advocacy on the West Philippine Sea (WPS) through compelling visual storytelling.

         The contest highlights the Philippines’ maritime rights under international law and encourages critical, responsible communication to counter disinformation.

II.      Eligibility

1.       Open to all bona fide students of designated participating institutions.

2.       Participants may join individually or as a team, maximum of three (3) members.

3.       Each participant/team may submit only one (1) entry.

III.    Artwork Categories

         Entries may be created using:

a.       Hand-drawn / Traditional (Physical) Artwork

b.       Digital Illustration / Graphic Design

c.        AI-Assisted Artwork

IV.    Artwork Requirements

a.         Entries must be original, unpublished, and not previously submitted to other

competitions.

b.        Visual content must:

• Advocate for the WPS using accurate, and fact-based messaging.

•      Reflect the legal basis of the Philippines’ maritime entitlements (e.g.,

UNCLOS, 2016 Arbitral Ruling).

•      Counter prevalent disinformation.

c.        The caption must clearly explain the message, contain accurate information,

and demonstrate advocacy-oriented communication.

d.        Minor layout enhancements are allowed provided they do not alter the

original concept.

V.      Submission Guidelines

a.       File Requirements: 

•      Physical artworks must be digitized via high-resolution photo or scan. 

•      Digital/AI entries must be submitted in high-resolution PNG or JPEG

format.

 b.       Social Media Posting Requirements: 

•      Post entry on personal Facebook account. 

•      Use prescribed caption and hashtags. 

•      Set post to Public and tag the West Philippine Sea Watch FB Page. 

•      Encourage meaningful engagement (only engagement within the contest

period will be counted).

 c.        Official Submission: 

•      Submit Facebook post link and required details via official Google Form. 

•      Late submissions will not be accepted.

VI.   Judging and Evaluation

a.       All entries will undergo content validation for factual accuracy and

compliance. A designated Board of Judges will evaluate all qualified

entries. Individual ratings will be consolidated to determine final

scores. Decisions of the Board of Judges are final.

b.       Winners will be announced via: 

   •      Official website (www.westphseawatch.com)  

   •      Official Facebook page West Philippine Sea Watch

(www.facebook.com/westphseawatch)

VII. Prizes

         Top three (3) winners will receive:

a.       First Prize – Php 8,000.00 

b.       Second Prize – Php 5,000.00 

c.       Third Prize – Php 2,000.00

VIII. Use of Selected Entries

      Selected artworks may be disseminated across official social media pages, online galleries, and exhibit materials. Proper credit will be given to creators.

IX.    General Provisions

a.      Plagiarism, misinformation, or violations will result in disqualification.

b.      Organizers reserve the right to disqualify non-compliant entries.

c.      Participation constitutes full acceptance of all contest rules.

d.      Hand-drawn entries will be given slightly higher consideration compared to

digitally created and AI-assisted posters. Likewise, digitally created outputs

will receive slightly higher consideration than AI-assisted posters.

e.      Judging Criteria and Scoring

Criteria	Percentage
Relevance to theme and accuracy of content	30%
Creativity and visual impact	25%
Clarity and strength of advocacy message	20%
Quality and substance of caption	5%
Online engagement (reactions, shares, reach)	20%
TOTAL	100%