Cesario Padilla of Iligan City bagged the grand prize in the 2009 Kadayawan Festival’s Tunog Mindanaw World Music Festival during the final competition last August 18, Tuesday at the NCCC Mall.

Padilla, who has won various regional and national songwriting contests, beat nine other semi-finalists with his entry “Pagdiriwang”, which he describes as “an invitation to celebrate life by love to all forms of life on Earth”. He won P100,000.

Awards for the first and second runners up went to Marie Anathea “Maan” Chua and Ma. Cecilia “Geejay” Arriola, respectively. Both from Davao, Chua won for her entry “Itadyak”, which talks about the ancient form of worship by the tribes, praising nature, sun, the moon and other elements, and becoming one with them, while Arriola won for her entry “Iisa”, which talks about oneness in the country, in the world amid the wealth of differences and unique creations.

Chua received P50,000 while Arriola received P30,000. The seven other finalists received P20,000 each.

Tunog Mindanaw World Music Festival is an annual pop music composition contest that incorporates significant Mindanawon indigenous and folk music traditions.

The finalists were judged according the following criteria: Musicality (30%), Creativity (30%), Lyrics/Literary Merits (10%), Commercial Appeal (10%), and Music Performance (20%).