SC lawyer's Ondoy photo among CNN's 5 best photojournalism samples

A Philippine Supreme Court lawyer’s photo was chosen as among the top five “best examples of photojournalism" by international news outfit Cable News Network or CNN. CNN’s iReport chose SC lawyer-photographer Doranne Lim’s shot of the how tropical cyclone “Ondoy" (Ketsana) inundated Metro Manila in 2009 as one of its “indelible images." “Pasig City, Philippines, almost looked like the Venice of the East after typhoon Ketsana swept through in 2009, inundating cities and forcing people to get around on makeshift rafts," CNN said of Lim’s photo. “Many were stuck on the roofs of their homes, waiting for the water to recede. Photographer Doranne Lim captured the panic from the best vantage point: a rooftop," it also said on its website. Topping the list was a photo of the Pakistan flooding in 2010. The others in the top five included:

• The massive gas-line explosion in San Bruno, California (Chris Honeysett)
• Three bandaged German tourists near the site of the Oslo explosion (Trond Lindholm)
• A mass grave in Port-au-Prince shortly after the Jan. 12, 2010 Haiti quake (Bobby Moon)

The Supreme Court said Lim was at the time documenting an inspection by then Chief Justice Reynato Puno at the Hall of Justice of Pasig City when she took the photo. “Two days later, she was interviewed live on the phone by CNN about the disaster as her photographs aired for the next 24 hours on the international news channel," according to the high court’s website said. Lim is a lawyer working for the Supreme Court’s Public Information Office. Aside from the regular legal tasks she handles, she also documents Supreme Court-initiated activities held in the different provinces like the “Enhanced Justice on Wheels." She is also the photographer who took the official portraits of the Justices posted on the Supreme Court website. — JE/VS, GMA News