The aims of the awards have been:

1. to help develop Philippine Literature by providing incentives for writers to craft their most outstanding literary works.
2. to be a treasury of the Philippines' literary gems from our gifted writers and to assist in its eventual dissemination to our people, particularly the students.

The awards started with the Short Story category in English and Filipino.

Through the years, as the awards elicited overwhelming response, new categories were added: One-act Play in 1953, Poetry in 1963, Full-length Play in 1975, Essay in 1979, Novel in 1980, Short Story in 1989, Teleplay in 1990, and Screenplay in 1994. In 1997, three new divisions were opened. These were the Iluko, Cebuano and Hiligaynon Short Story. To encourage writing by our youth, the Kabataan Essay was opened in 1998, and in 2000 a new category was added, Futuristic Fiction, a separate genre of the short story that involves a looking beyond into the future to transcend the boundaries of the present. The current categories are short story, short story for children, essay, poetry, one-act play, and full-length play in the English and Filipino divisions; screenplay in the Filipino division; and short story in Cebuano, Hiligaynon and Iluko regional languages.

The harvest of literary work is just as impressive. As of year 2006, it has a collection of 32 novels, 14 in English and 18 in Filipino; 160 full-length plays, 70 in English and 90 in Filipino; 320 one-act plays, 145 in English and 175 in Filipino; 336 collections of poems, stories, 185 in English, 182 in Filipino, 30 in Cebuano, 30 in Hiligaynon and 30 in Iluko; 120 short stories for children, 61 in English and 59 in Filipino; 60 teleplays, 5 in English and 55 in Filipino; 40 screenplays all in Filipino; 50 Kabataan essays, 27 in English and 23 in Filipino; and 34 futuristic fiction stories, 18 in English and 16 in Filipino.

The winning works for the first twenty years of the awards were printed in anthology form in 1976, 4 volumes in Filipino, Isang Kalipunan ng mga Nagwagi sa Carlos Palanca Memorial Awards, 1950, 1970 and 4 volumes in English, An Anthology of Palanca Memorial Awards Winners, 1950, 1970. The books were distributed to public and private colleges and universities all over the Philippines through the National Library.

These were followed in 1990 by the printing of Antolohiya ng mga Nagwaging Akda, Dekada 80, three separate compilations of Dulang May Isang Yugto, Maikling Kuwento and Tula which were published in cooperation with Anvil Publishing, Inc. In the year 2000, another publication, An Anthology of Winning Works, the 1980's came out. It was in three separate compilations of One-act Play, Short Story and Poetry.

For the benefit of students and researchers outside Metro Manila, especially those in the provinces, book-bound photocopies of the Maikling Kuwento from 1993 to 1997 were donated to universities and colleges nationwide.

The writings are available in the Foundation Library and in schools all over the country. These works stand out in literary form, style and message. Students researching Palanca Award winners as part of their class requirements learn not only the correct forms of writings but also glean from these works the moods and aspirations of our country and our people.

In 1975, eight award-winning plays were produced and presented to the public at the Little Theater of the Cultural Center of the Philippines and culminated with a presentation at the Luneta Grandstand.

The Palanca Hall of Fame was established in 1995 and is presented to a Palanca awardee who has achieved the distinction of winning five first prizes. There are now 19 Hall of Fame awardees.

In 1996, the Palanca Awards began conducting Creative Writing Workshops. Dramatic readings of award-winning works have also been presented in colleges and universities.

The citations and awards conferred to the Palanca Awards are:

 

• Tanging Parangal in the Gawad CCP para sa Sining in 1992

• Gawad Pambansang Alagad ni Balagtas by the Unyon ng Manunulat sa Pilipinas in 1993

• The UNESCO, in the celebration of its 50th years in 1995, included the Palanca Family and the Palanca Awards in the UNESCO

• List of Living Human Treasures of Artists, Writers and Artisans

• Plaque of Appreciation from the Philippine Board on Books for Young People for its unstinting support for the promotion and development of children's literature in the Philippines in 1995

• Anvil Merit Award in 1997

• CCP Centennial Honors for the Arts. in 1999

• Gawad Tanglaw ng Lahi by the Ateneo de Manila University in 2001

• Special Citation for the Carlos Palanca Memorial Awards Anthologies by the Manila Critics Circle in 2001

• Appreciation to the Carlos Palanca Foundation for its Scholarship Grant in Creative Writing by the University of the Philippines in 2002

• Gawad Pagkilala by the Komisyon sa Wikang Filipino in 2004

Born from a simple dream to help develop Philippine literature, the foundation holds steadfast to its mission of providing nourishment for the national spirit.