Trend Micro Awards Young Filipinos in “What’s Your Story?” Art Competition on Internet Safety

MANILA, Philippines, March 2, 2015Trend Micro, a global leader in security software and solutions, announced the winners of the 2014-2015 edition of their “What’s Your Story?” art competition, which called on the Filipino youth to create art to raise national awareness on online security.

“What’s Your Story?” is an advocacy of Trend Micro to build awareness on Internet safety and at the same time, help Filipino kids and families benefit from online security. In line with this campaign, the company implements annual competitions to give Filipinos an opportunity to participate and be part of Trend Micro’s vision of threat-free cyberspace. In 2013, the pilot year of “What’s Your Story?” in the Philippines, Filipino youth uploaded their most creative videos on how they can maintain a good online reputation. One winner in the school category was Marie Pellejo with her video "The Story of My (Online) Life".

This year, Trend Micro called on young Filipinos from all school levels (primary, secondary, tertiary) to submit artwork under the theme “Creating a Positive Impact in the Community through Internet Safety.” The contest was launched on the Click Right! Facebook page. Click Right! is Trend Micro’s Internet Safety for Kids and Families initiative in the Philippines. After the contest’s online launch in November, Trend Micro conducted roadshows with Greenfield and Museo Pambata where students, kids, and their families had the chance to bond, create artwork and submit their entries right after.

Finally, after 3 months and 182 eligible submissions, the finalists were named and their entries were uploaded on Trend Micro’s Facebook page. A grand prize winner was chosen for each category: primary, secondary and tertiary. Each of the grand prize winners took home $1,000.

Here are the winners of Trend Micro’s “What’s Your Story?” art competiton:

Primary: JAY PORTALLO, Iligan City East National High School, Lanao del Norte

Secondary: CHESKA TAYOTO, Saint Jerome Emiliani Institute, Cavite

Tertiary: NICO RAPISORA, De La Salle University, Manila

Audience Choice: JUSTINE MERCADO, Tabernacle of Faith Christian Academy

“Trend Micro is committed to building a safe online environment for all netizens, and we are starting with the Filipino youth on spreading greater awareness on the significance of online security,” said Myla Pilao, Marketing Director at Trend Micro Philippines. “It is our shared responsibility as a company and community to protect kids and families. This is what Trend Micro has always sought to do. Through social media and our roadshows, we found great participation and support for the campaign. We were thrilled to see the many entries submitted by these kids, our leaders of tomorrow, who are now educating through art.”

Believing in Trend Micro’s mission to provide a much safer digital space for Filipino kids and families, Maricel Montero, Executive Director of Museo Pambata said, “With the prevalence of Internet dangers, it is no easy task to raise awareness on online security. We are proud that Trend Micro chose our venue to carry out this creative competition which gave our kids chances to inspire, create, and raise awareness for Internet safety for themselves and their communities.”

Trend Micro partnered with stakeholders who helped choose the winners. The judges are:

Piaget Martelino, a local visual artist/designer and founder of The Saturday Sketching Sessions Art Group (2011) and The Mustache Creative (2013), which organizes art and music focused events. He and his team of artists were part of the live art painting and helped coach kids on their artwork in Greenfield.

Maricel Montero is the Executive Director of Museo Pambata, the premier children’s’ museum and host to the second roadshow of “What’s Your Story?” 2014. Museo Pambata is the children's interactive museum, the first of its kind in the Philippines.

Marty Ocaya is a youth pastor of Elevate, a nationwide campus movement that holds worship services, trainings and bible studies for high school and college students.

Monica Llamas is the Art Program Manager of Bonifacio Art Foundation in Bonifacio Global City in Taguig, known as a “Home of Passionate Minds” where residents and guests live, work, and play.

Mitchel Chang is the TrendLabs Site Executive who is currently responsible for Trend Micro’s global technical support for the Philippines TrendLabs operations. Chang has over 20 years of technical services and management experience in the IT security and electronic automation industry.

Trend Micro continues to empower the youth through their Internet safety advocacy in the Philippines. This is complemented by outreach activities through social and traditional media, and school partnerships. For more information, visit https://www.facebook.com/ClickRightPH

 

About Trend Micro

Trend Micro Incorporated, a global leader in security software, strives to make the world safe for exchanging digital information. Built on 26 years of experience, our solutions for consumers, businesses and governments provide layered data security to protect information on mobile devices, endpoints, gateways, servers and the cloud. Trend Micro enables the smart protection of information, with innovative security technology that is simple to deploy and manage, and fits an evolving ecosystem. All of our solutions are powered by cloud-based global threat intelligence, the Trend Micro™ Smart Protection Network™ infrastructure, and are supported by more than 1,200 threat experts around the globe. For more information, visit TrendMicro.com.

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Media Contacts

Jansen Musico
TrendLabs Core Technology Marketing
TrendMicro Philippines
+632-995-6200
robert_musico@trendmicro.com

Camille Barrios / Mervin Wenke
Ogilvy Public Relations
0917-4695872 / 0917-3277783
camille.barrios@ogilvy.com / mervin.wenke@ogilvy.com