Art is a way of expressing an individual's creativity such as painting, sculpture, music, performance, architecture, literature, and others. It is often a talent of a person inborn (have a capacity to do art without proper training) or could be developed through learning. But, no matter if it is inborn or learned, it is vital to study and enhance the skills to be more creative, improve, and to Increase an individual's motivation.

On March 15, the Government Service Insurance System announced that there will be an Art Competition. The Online Submission of Artworks was postponed to April 19-30, 2021 and the Actual/Physical Submission of Artworks was from April 26 to May 15, 2021.

In this year's Art Competition they have three categories which are Representational, Non-Representational (Abstract), and Sculpture (Wood Relief). In every category, the winners will win cash prizes. The First winner will win P300,000, the Second winner will be P200,000, the third winner is P100,000 and Four Honorable Mentions will have P25,000 each.

On the other hand, three based Artists from Palawan were qualified for the Art Competition. The Qualified are Jonathan Benitez, Leonard Ansiong, and Manuel Joseph Tan. All of them are informed by an email from the GSIS, confirming that they are qualified in the Representational Category.

Jonathan Benitez is already known for this art about fragility and impermanence. between man and nature. He posted on his Facebook account attaching a screenshot of an email from the GSIS with a caption “My entry was qualified for this year's GSIS art competition. After 3rd attempts. Cheers to art!”

He was also interviewed by the palawan news and shared his excitement and happiness. He said that ““Pasalamat na rin dahil sa mahigit 5,000 entries, nakapasok ako sa shortlist, tatlo kami sa Palawan. Pero sa GSIS ngayon pa lang after three attempts.”

“Sa sitwasyon natin, nature ang pinaka-soothing relief, presko, tahimik at malayo sa tao. Reflection ito ng immediate environment ko as dito nakatira, madami mapuntahan na lugar malayo sa tao,” he added.

Aside from Jonathan Benitez, Leonard Ansiong also shared he also said that “Isang malaking karangalan bilang isang Palawenyo artist ang ma-qualify sa ganitong patimpalak kung saan nakakatulong din kahit na limited ‘yong resources nakakapagpa-boost ng confidence as an artist. The painting portrays the pandemic and the plight of the Filipino family. The sacrifice of our frontliners to give comfort to our kababayan in all their afflictions.”

And lastly, Manuel Joseph Tan “Magaan sa pakiramdam, dahil libong mga artist din ang nag-submit ng entries. Pero ang mas importante sakin yung nabigyan ng tsansang makita at maka-interact ng personal sa mas maraming tao ‘yong sining, at kung ano ang nakapaloob dito.Nagkaroon na ako ng solo exhibit at naging parte ng ibang exhibit, pero usually ‘yong mga paintings at ibang artworks ko ay for personal collection ko lang. I am a tattoo artist by profession, meron akong ilang local and international tattoo competitions na sinalihan at maswerteng napanalunan in the past.”

The Government Service Insurance System 2021 National Art Competition has a theme of “Alay na Ginhawa sa Panahon ng Pandemya.”