Small printing press in Laguna wins intl publishers' award

A small printing press in Calamba City, Laguna in the Philippines — Sinag Publishing and Printing Services — won an international award given by an organization based in Europe. Sinag won the top prize in the Nataza Prize category of the "World Young Reader Awards" The Nataza Prize is given to newspaper printing plants that teach young people about newspapers and journalism. Sinag won the award through its social responsibility program, the "Sinag Journalism Training Seminars." The award is given by the Paris, France-based World Association of Newspapers and News Publishers (WAN-IFRA), a global organization of more than 18,000 publications, 15,000 online sites, and over 3,000 companies in more than 120 countries. The prizes will be awarded on October 12 in Vienna, Austria, at the 63rd World Newspaper Congress and 18th World Editors Forum. The prize is 1000 Euro cash, sponsored by Norske Skog, the Norway-based global paper producer. In a statement, Sinag owners Ruel Landicho and Raia Dela Peña-Landicho said they were overwhelmed by the international recognition given to their small company. “When we started the Sinag Journalism Seminars in 2008, we never thought this would ever happen. We are shocked and amazed by this good news," said Landicho “We are very happy with this award, for its proves that you don’t have to be a big company to do a successful social responsibility program and that even small entrepreneurs can give back to one’s community in a big way," said Dela Peña-Landicho. Sinag journalism seminars Sinag gives free journalism seminars for students from both public and private schools in Laguna province. First launched in October 2008 and re-launched in February 2011, the seminars offer lectures and workshops on journalism, such as on editorial and news writing. According to the WAN-IFRA jury which judged the awards in Brazil, Sinag's seminars are "a fitting tribute to the person after whom this category is named as the commitment is clear to assuring that the youth learn about the importance and fragility of a free press and about how to do good journalism." The Nataza Prize is named after Nataza Vuckovic Lesendric (1966-2011), a Serbian who founded and ran a distribution system and then a printing plant for the independent press under the regime of Slobodan Milosevic. - VVP, GMA News