WINNING | Metrobank MADE winners capture Filipino realities in art

Insider Spotlight

• Metrobank Foundation named Vince Martin Macatangay, Kennette Luague and Aldrin Olaguir as the 2026 MADE grand awardees
• Their winning works explore human connection, workers’ perseverance, power and corruption through painting, mixed media and sculpture
• Each grand awardee received P500,000 in prizes, including P350,000 cash and a P150,000 scholarship to the Eskinita Art Residency Program
  
  
  
  

The 2026 Metrobank Art & Design Excellence (MADE) put contemporary Filipino experiences at the center of its winning works, with three artists drawing on themes ranging from unseen lives to economic struggle and entrenched power.

Metrobank Foundation said this year’s competition attracted more than 600 submissions nationwide, highlighting the breadth of the country’s contemporary art community.

Why it matters

“This year, MADE received over 600 submissions from artists across the country, reflecting the diversity, talent, and vitality of the Philippine art community. Their works remind us that Filipino artists continue to engage deeply with the world around them and contribute fresh perspectives to the conversations shaping our society,” Metrobank Foundation president Philip Francisco U. Dy said.

Vince Martin A. Macatangay won the Grand Award for Oil or Acrylic on Canvas for “Sonder: Sa Bawat Mundong ’Di Ko Matahak (Sonder: In Worlds Beyond My Reach).” Inspired by the idea that every stranger has a complex life of their own, the painting depicts multiple figures and movements representing countless stories unfolding simultaneously.

“Sa painting, hinihigop ang simuno patungo sa siklo ng walang hanggang daloy ng oras,” Macatangay said. ((In the painting, the subject is drawn into the cycle of the endless flow of time)

Another path

Kennette A. Luague received the Grand Award for Mixed Media for “Taya (Bet),” which reflects the risks and sacrifices Filipino workers make for their families. Using materials including wood and billiard cloth, Luague depicts perseverance within a chaotic system.

“Bagaman tila nakapako sa gitna ng sistema, ang alab sa kanyang isipan ang nagsisilbing mitsa ng pag-asa,” Luague said. ((Although seemingly stuck in the middle of the system, the fire in a person's mind serves as a spark of hope)

Aldrin B. Olaguir took the Grand Award for Sculpture with “Hinahalal, Binabanal (The Chosen, the Sanctified).” The work transforms the familiar holy water font, using a crocodile figure to prompt questions about power, corruption and practices that become normalized.

“Growing up in the Philippines, I am influenced by survival conditions, inherited moral systems, and fragmented histories shaped by colonial interruption and cultural layering,” Olaguir said.

The bigger picture

The winners embody this year’s theme, “TRAVERSE: Creativity in Motion,” focused on different pathways of experience and artistic expression.

Metrobank Foundation also gave P100,000 Special Citations to Raphael Daniel O. David,  Arvin C. Cantalejo Jr., Richard D. Montero ,and Artgiveson C. Arreglado.

The winning works are part of a nearly 100-piece MADE exhibition at The Metropolitan Museum of Manila, open to the public for free through Oct. 18. —Ramon C. Nocon | Ed:: Corrie S. Narisma