“Youth with disabilities today are potential modern-day heroes like Apolinario Mabini, the sublime paralytic who can lead in protecting their rights in various aspects of societal life,” thus the remarks of Mr. Mateo A. Lee, Jr., Officer-in-Charge of the National Council on Disability Affairs (NCDA) before high school students with disabilities, teachers/trainors, and parents who participated in the recently concluded “Paligsahan ng May ‘K’ sa Kasaysayan at Kultura” held last July 20, 2010 in celebration of the 32nd National Disability Prevention and Rehabilitation (NDPR) Week.

Mr. Lee, who serves as the inspirational speaker, underscored the importance of such competition in enhancing the intellects and various talents and skills of youth with disabilities. He also said that the NCDA will continue to conduct similar undertakings to develop more persons with disabilities as productive members of the society.

Ezekiel S. Gerona of Quirino High School, Quezon City; Angelita Abenojar of Philippine National School for the Blind, Pasay City and Irish Charles Eden A. Satorre of Jose Fabella Memorial School, Mandaluyong CIty emerged as top winners after three rounds (easy, average, and difficult) of competition. Each received P5,000.00 cash prize from NCDA and Certificates and various tokens from the National Historical Commission of the Philippines (NHCP), Department of Public Works and Highways (DPWH), Department of Social Welfare and Development (DSWD), Technical Education and Skills Development Authority (TESDA), and SM SuperMalls.

The other major winners include Louis Christian B. Decara, Mark Kevin Carandang, Raven Ralph Regala, Adrian G. Rongalerios, Mylin de la Cruz, and Richard L. Lorida. They also received cash prizes and tokens from the Contest organizers and sponsors.

The Competition was jointly conducted by NCDA, NHCP, DepEd, DPWH, TESDA, DSWD, and other partner agencies. The Board of Judges was composed of Dr. Celestina P. Boncan, Philippine Historical Association (Chair); Mr. Rizalio R. Sanchez, NCDA (member); Arch. Veronica A. Dado, NHCP (member), and Ms. Chita Singayan, Special Education Division, Bureau of Elementary Education, DepEd (member).