From the pool of awardees of the National Digital Arts Awards (NDAA) 2018, three (3) lucky national digital arts awardees received scholarships from CIIT College of Arts and Technology. The long-awaited awards night took place last February 26, 2019, at the Jose Rizal Hall, Philippine International Convention Center, Pasay City. This year’s theme, “Driven by Design, Fueled by Passion, Empowering Today’s Digital Artist”, reflects the mission of the competition to push forward Filipino digital artists into prominence.
John Clister D. Santos from Our Lady of Perpetual Succor College, one of the three awardees, received the most coveted Bachelor’s Degree full-scholarship from CIIT. He was granted the scholarship after being named as the Special Awardee of the competition for his work “Digital Hero”, which also won the 2nd place in the Animation – Student Category. Two other winners also received scholarships to any Specialist course of their choice at CIIT: John Patrick A. Gañas, 2nd Place in Digital Art in Print and Character Design category; and Julian Felipe Bacani, 2nd Place in Animation Category.
John Clister Santos (middle) gladly accepts his award from [left to right] Globaltronics Chairman and Chief Executive Officer William T. Guido, Jump Digital Founder and Chief Executive Officer Jed Marcaida, CIIT Business Development Manager Nadine Delos Reyes and Globaltronics Chief Operating Officer Jasper Evangelista. John is the sole Special Prize Winner of NDAA 2018 which provides a full scholarship to any Bachelor’s Degree of choice at CIIT College of Arts and Technology.
2nd Place for Digital Art in Print, John Patrick A. Gañas, received PHP 80,000 worth of cash and prizes including a CIIT Specialist course scholarship. With him are Globaltronics Chairman and Chief Executive Officer, William T. Guido and CIIT Multimedia Arts Program Head, Gillian Tribiana.
John Patrick A. Gañas received another 2nd place win for his submission in the Character Design category. Jed Marcaida, Jump Digital Founder and Chief Executive Officer, and Lourdes Padasas, CIIT Admission Officer, presented the award amounting to PHP 90,000 worth of cash and prizes including another CIIT Specialist Course scholarship.
CIIT Student Affairs Office Manager, Arman Pangilinan [2nd from right], joined the 2nd Place winner, Julian Felipe Bacani [middle] as he receives the PHP 100,000 worth of cash and prizes including the CIIT Specialist Course scholarship. Together with them are [from left] Globaltronics Chairman and Chief Executive Officer William T. Guido, Jump Digital Founder and Chairman Jed Marcaida, and [at the rightmost part] Globaltronics Chief Operating Officer Jasper Evangelista.
National Digital Arts Awards is one of the most prestigious events in the country which aims to acknowledge digital artists in the country. In 2018, another round of the competition unfolded but this time with fresh categories that made the competition more exciting. “NDAA 2018 introduced new categories this year to cater to digital artists who utilize other media,” explained Tobias Miguel Bernardo, Client Service Head of Jump Digital, the organizer of the said event. “This edition of the NDAA also expanded the target participants by reaching out to artists as young as 14 years old to participate in the competition. And, beyond the usual cash prize–scholarship grants (long-term / short-term courses, etc.) were added.”
Jump Digital Founder and Chairman, Jed Marcaida, acquaints the audience with the journey of NDAA over the years. He also took the opportunity to express gratitude to all the students who participated in the competition, and the event partners who made the event possible.
The partnership of CIIT Philippines and NDAA started in 2018 after the initial meet-up between CIIT Chairman of the Board, Niel Dagondon, Business Development Manager Nadine Delos Reyes, and Tobias Bernardo of Jump Digital during the planning stage of NDAA 2018. Upon recognizing the potential of the competition to inspire more young digital artists, which is identical to the mission of the school, discussions on scholarships proceeded with the goal to empower aspiring and professional Filipino artists through creativity and technology education.
“The partnership of CIIT and NDAA is a testament to the NDAA’s commitment to nurturing the Filipino digital artists by providing them with a means through which they can further hone their craft. Going beyond financial assistance (through cash prizes), the Specialist courses and the BA program provided by CIIT, showed participants just how committed the NDAA was to supporting them as they pursue their passion for the arts,” says Mr. Bernardo.
Apart from the awarding of the winners during the NDAA night, enthralling performances from renowned artists such as Jem Cubil, Alden Richards and Up Dharma Down entertained the audience.
Alden Richards serenades the crowd with “Kung Di Rin Lang Ikaw” by December Avenue.
Up Dharma Down (UDD) sings some of their crowd-favorite compositions such as Tadhana, Oo, Indak, and Anino.
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