Lampara Books is expanding its literacy advocacy through Batang Lampara, Batang Kuwentista 2026, a nationwide storytelling competition that brought together 416 young participants from 139 schools.
The initiative, whose Grand Finals were held on September 12 at the SMX Convention Center Manila, is designed to encourage children to engage with books and literature through storytelling. Lampara Books positions the program as part of its broader literacy efforts and as a complement to the Department of Education’s ARAL Program, which provides structured learning interventions for students who need additional support in foundational academic competencies, including reading.
The development highlights a role that publishers can play beyond producing books: creating programs and experiences that encourage children to see reading as an activity worth pursuing.
How can publishers contribute to reading literacy?
Reading intervention is not limited to classroom instruction. Publishers, educators, schools and other organizations can contribute to literacy by creating opportunities for children to encounter books in engaging ways.
Lampara Books has developed several initiatives around this idea, including Magbasa Tayo!, which uses the Marungko Approach, and Let’s Read!, which uses systematic phonics.
Batang Lampara, Batang Kuwentista takes a different approach. Rather than focusing primarily on reading instruction, it uses storytelling as an avenue for children to interpret and present literature.
That distinction is important.
A storytelling competition does not replace structured reading instruction. Instead, it can provide children with another reason to read, understand a story and communicate what they have learned from it.
For businesses operating in education and publishing, such programs also demonstrate how corporate initiatives can intersect with broader social priorities without being limited to product promotion.
What is the DepEd ARAL Program?
The ARAL Program, or Academic Recovery and Accessible Learning Program, is a Department of Education intervention designed to provide additional learning support to students who need help developing key competencies.
Reading is among the areas addressed by the program. The broader objective is to help learners recover or strengthen foundational skills through structured interventions.
Lampara Books' storytelling initiative operates in a different space. Its emphasis is on cultivating children's interest in reading and literature, rather than serving as a formal substitute for the intervention framework implemented by schools and the Department of Education.
The distinction illustrates how public and private-sector efforts can address different parts of the same education challenge.
What happened at Batang Lampara, Batang Kuwentista 2026?
The 2026 competition was divided into two categories based on grade level.
Category A: Grades 1–3
1st Place: Catriona Xia C. Gacutan
2nd Place: Zander Skye H. Saplagio
3rd Place: Ameera Estelle E. Incognito
Category B: Grades 4–6
1st Place: Czarina Sophia L. Hinanay
2nd Place: Ma. Daniela C. Mejos
3rd Place: Alamela G. Cacho
The winners were announced during an event at the Manila International Book Fair.
The finalists were evaluated by a multidisciplinary panel that included artist and children's rights advocate Pepot Atienza; storyteller and puppeteer Melanie Ramirez; UP Diliman creative writing and literature professor Eugene Evasco; UP Diliman reading education professor and children's author Portia Padilla; and Philippine Educational Theater Association senior member Csairus John Habla.
One notable aspect of this year's competition was its geographic reach.
The organizers received 416 entries from 139 schools, with 45 percent of participants coming from cities and provinces outside the National Capital Region.
Online submissions allowed children from different parts of the country to participate without having to travel to Metro Manila during the initial stages of the competition.
For an education-focused program, accessibility matters. Digital submission removes one logistical barrier that can prevent students outside major urban centers from joining national programs.
However, access to a competition is only one part of the larger literacy equation. Sustained reading development still depends on factors such as access to books, quality instruction, teacher support, learning environments and family engagement.
Can storytelling encourage children to read?
Storytelling can give children an active role in engaging with literature.
Instead of simply consuming a story, participants have to interpret characters, understand the narrative and communicate it to an audience. For young learners, these activities can make reading feel more social and expressive.
Segundo Matias Jr., co-founder and president of Lampara Publishing House, Inc., said this year's participants demonstrated creativity and spontaneity in their performances.
That observation also points to an important consideration for literacy programs: children's engagement should not be measured only by how much they read, but also by whether they develop a meaningful relationship with stories and books.
Reading in an increasingly digital and AI-driven environment
The literacy conversation is also changing as children grow up surrounded by digital platforms and artificial intelligence.
AI tools can make information easier to access, but access to information is not the same as developing strong reading comprehension. Children still need the ability to understand narratives, distinguish information, interpret meaning and communicate ideas.
For publishers such as Lampara Books, this creates an evolving role.
The challenge is not necessarily to position books against technology. Instead, literacy initiatives can explore ways to keep reading relevant while children navigate an increasingly digital environment.
Batang Lampara, Batang Kuwentista approaches that challenge through an activity familiar to children: telling stories.
A broader role for the publishing industry
The initiative also reflects how publishers can participate in education beyond traditional book sales.
Programs involving schools, teachers and young readers can help publishers build longer-term relationships with the communities they serve. For Lampara Books, literacy advocacy provides an opportunity to connect its publishing work with children's development and reading engagement.
For the education sector, these efforts are most useful when they complement—not replace—the work of schools, teachers and government programs.
That distinction becomes increasingly important as the Philippines continues to address foundational learning needs while children adapt to a rapidly changing digital environment.