An undisclosed family connection tips a close three judge average, prompting an emergency parol rescoring
Barangay Christmas Lantern Contest Judges Accused of Favoritism After Winning Entry Traced to Judge’s Own Nephew
MANILA – The annual barangay parol-making contest, a beloved fixture of the community’s Christmas season for over a decade, has descended into genuine controversy this week after the winning entry, an elaborately designed star lantern awarded first prize by a three-judge panel, was discovered to have been submitted by the nephew of one of the contest’s own judges, a connection neither the judge nor the contestant disclosed prior to voting.
How the Connection Was Actually Discovered
The relationship surfaced only after a runner-up contestant, reviewing the winning entry’s submission form out of what she described as simple curiosity rather than suspicion, recognized the entrant’s surname as matching one of the three judges, a discovery she initially dismissed as coincidence before confirming, through a mutual acquaintance, that the contestant was in fact the judge’s nephew, residing in a different section of the barangay but maintaining, by all accounts, a close family relationship.
“I did not go looking for this,” said runner-up contestant Bienvenido Salcedo-Marasigan, whose own entry placed second. “I was simply curious how such an elaborate design came from someone I had never seen at a single parol-making workshop all season. Once I had the name, the rest took one phone call to confirm. I want to be clear that I am not accusing anyone of anything I cannot document. I am simply presenting facts that, together, form a pattern most reasonable people would find at minimum uncomfortable.”
The Judge’s Response
The judge in question, retired barangay councilor Precioso Villanueva-Batac, has acknowledged the family relationship but firmly denied any improper influence on his scoring, noting that the contest uses a three-judge averaging system specifically designed to prevent any single judge’s preferences from determining the outcome. “I scored the entry on its actual merits,” Villanueva-Batac said. “It was, on its own terms, an excellent piece of craftsmanship. That my nephew made it is a fact I should perhaps have disclosed before judging, and for that specific failure of disclosure, I apologize. For the actual scoring itself, I stand by every point I awarded.”
What the Other Judges Say
The two remaining judges, reached separately, both confirmed they scored the winning entry independently and without knowledge of the family connection, with one noting that her own scorecard placed the entry a close second rather than first, meaning Villanueva-Batac’s own score was what ultimately tipped the average in the winning entry’s favor. “I judged it as excellent, genuinely,” said co-judge Marilou Fernandez-Aquino. “I did not judge it as the best entry in the contest. That distinction, in the final math, came down to Kuya Precioso’s specific numbers, which is exactly the detail that has made this whole situation considerably harder to simply wave away.”
The Nephew’s Position
The winning contestant, reached briefly, defended his entry’s merit while acknowledging the disclosure failure, noting he had assumed the contest’s judging panel was public knowledge and had not considered his uncle’s role a conflict requiring formal declaration. “I built this lantern myself, genuinely, over three weeks,” he said. “I did not ask my uncle to judge kindly. I did not discuss the contest with him at all before submission. I understand why this looks the way it looks. I only wish someone, myself included, had thought to simply say something before the scoring happened rather than after.”
The Committee’s Response
The barangay’s contest committee, facing mounting pressure from several contestants and residents demanding a formal review, has announced an emergency rescoring using only the two judges without the family connection, a process expected to be completed within the week. Committee chair Estrella Panganiban-Reyes acknowledged the situation as “genuinely the first controversy of this magnitude in the contest’s history,” and confirmed the committee will implement a formal conflict-of-interest disclosure requirement for all future judging panels.
Community Reaction
Reaction across the barangay has been notably measured given the dispute’s genuine emotional stakes for a beloved community tradition, with several residents expressing more disappointment than outrage, describing the situation as “an honest oversight that should have been caught earlier” rather than deliberate corruption. “Nobody thinks Kuya Precioso is some criminal mastermind rigging a lantern contest,” said longtime resident Corazon Villareal-Sison. “Everybody agrees this should have been disclosed. The barangay just wants it handled fairly and then, honestly, wants to move on to actually enjoying Christmas.”
Wider Coverage
The dispute has drawn light regional press coverage, with community-focused reporting at the Manila Bulletin examining the broader tradition of neighborhood holiday contests, and a brief item at the Inquirer noting the story as a gentle, seasonally appropriate example of community governance working through a genuine, if modest, controversy.
What Happens Next
The rescoring results are expected within days, with the committee confirming that regardless of the outcome, the original winner has voluntarily offered to relinquish the top prize if the rescoring produces a different result, an offer several residents have called “exactly the kind of graceful gesture this whole situation needed from the start.”
Salcedo-Marasigan, the runner-up whose curiosity uncovered the connection, has said he holds no ill will toward either the judge or his nephew, noting only that he hopes the incident prompts the committee to formalize rules that protect future contestants from having to play amateur detective simply to ensure a fair outcome.
SOURCE: https://bohiney.com/