Winners of 18th JVO journalism awards announced

The Philippine Daily Inquirer, The Philippine Star, Newsbreak, and Philippine Graphic won the top awards in the 18th Jaime V. Ongpin Awards for Excellence in Journalism (JVOAEJ) for works published in 2006. The awarding ceremonies were held at the AIM Conference Center Manila on Thursday. The Center for Media Freedom and Responsibility (CMFR) has been the administrative and technical secretariat of the JVOAEJ since 1990. The first JVOAEJ was launched in 1990 to honor the late Jaime V. Ongpin, who was finance secretary during the administration of former President Corazon "Cory" Aquino . A press freedom advocate, Ongpin was involved in the struggle against the Marcos dictatorship and was instrumental in harnessing public support for the restoration of democracy. As in the previous year, reports published by daily newspapers were judged separately from those published by non-dailies. There were thus two sets of first, second, and third prizes for the investigative and explanatory categories. The first prize winners in the daily and non-daily division of the investigative and the explanatory category each received a cash prize of P70,000 and a plaque. The first prize in the daily division of the investigative category went to “Untangling the RSBS mess" by Fe Zamora of the Philippine Daily Inquirer, which was published on November 13-16, 2006. It was Zamora’s second straight win in the same division and category. Her article, co-written with Gerry Lirio, “Tracing the trail of the tape," received the top prize last year. In the non-daily division of the same category, the first prize went to “Leyte sea roils from rape of WW2 ships" by Inday Espina-Varona with Yvette Lee and Christine Mangulabnan, which was published in the Philippine Graphic on October 23 and 30, 2006. It was the first time that both Varona and the Graphic won the top prize in the said division and category. In the daily division of the explanatory category, The Philippine Star took the first prize for its report “RP detergent industry struggles to stay afloat" written by Mary Ann Ll. Reyes, and published on November 8-9, 2006 (the first for both the Star and Reyes). Newsbreak took the top prize in the non-daily division with “Seeing red" by Carmela Fonbuena, which was published on July 3, 2006. It was the first such award for Fonbuena. CMFR in consultation with the Canadian Embassy also announced that the Marshall McLuhan Prize, a travel study tour of Canada, will go to Varona, who won first prize in the non-daily division of the investigative category. This is the 11th year that the Canadian Embassy has given out the Marshall McLuhan Prize in the JVOAEJ. CMFR in consultation with the Australian Embassy has decided that the Australian Ambassador’s Award, a travel grant to Australia, will go to The Philippine Star’s Reyes, who won first prize in the daily division of the explanatory category. This is the fifth time that the Australian Embassy is awarding the Australian Ambassador’s Award in the JVOAEJ. “Citrus farmers restive over mining project" by Melvin Gascon published in the Philippine Daily Inquirer on March 15, 2006 won second prize in the daily division of the investigative category, while “Making money from making peace" by Aries Rufo published in Newsbreak on July 31, 2006 won second prize in the same category of the non-daily division. They each received a cash prize of P40,000 and a plaque. There was no third prize in the daily division of the investigative category. In the non-daily division, the third prize went to “The Romualdezes and Equitable Bank" by Lala Rimando with research by Evelyn Katigbak, which was published in Newsbreak on June 3, July 3, 17 and 31, 2006. Rimando received a cash prize of P20,000 and a plaque. In the explanatory category, “Guimaras oil spill" by the Philippine Daily Inquirer i-Team (Fernando del Mundo-Chief, Leila B. Salaverria and Tina Arceo-Dumlao with Dona Z. Pazzibugan, Carla P. Gomez, Margaux C. Ortiz, Tetch Torres and Nestor P. Burgos Jr.) won second prize in the daily division. The Philippine Center for Investigative Journalism (PCIJ) report “Preparing for disaster" by Vinia M. Datinguinoo, which was published in the March-April & May-June 2006 i Report, won second prize in the non-daily division. The Philippine Daily Inquirer i-Team and Datinguinoo each received a cash prize of P40,000 and a plaque. The third prize winners in the explanatory category were the Philippine Daily Inquirer report “Doing good in bad times" by Daxim L. Lucas and Clarissa S. Batino, published on January 8-11, 2006 (daily division), and the PCIJ report “Incentives for the rich harm the poor" by Roel Landingin published in The Philippine Star, BusinessMirror, Malaya, Manila Standard Today and Sun.Star Cebu on August 14-15, 2006 (non-daily division). The third prize winners in both divisions received a cash prize of P20,000 and a plaque. This year, the JVOAEJ was sponsored by the Royal Ministry of Foreign Affairs, Government of Norway, The Asia Foundation with support from the United States Agency for International Development and the Ateneo de Manila University. The other finalists of the 18th JVOAEJ are: * Investigative category (daily division): "CSC reels from GMA prerogative to appoint execs" by Jerry E. Esplanada, Philippine Daily Inquirer (March 27-29, 2006); "Appointments raise questions in land row" by Felipe Salvosa II with Maria Eloisa I. Calderon, BusinessWorld (Feb. 7-8, 2006) * Investigative category (non-daily division): "Boys Town wards cry sexual, physical abuse" by Tess Bacalla, Philippine Center for Investigative Journalism, published in The Philippine Star, The Manila Times, Malaya and Sun.Star Cebu (June 12-13, 2006). * Explanatory category (daily division): "Change oil" by Dave Llorito, Business Mirror (Apr. 27, 2006); "Traffic: Time to count the costs" by Paolo Joseph L. Lising with Iris Cecilia C. Gonzales and Kristine L. Alave, BusinessWorld (Apr. 10-12, 2006); "History is not teacher’s pet" by Jonathan M. Hicap, The Manila Times (Sept. 17-18, 2006) * Explanatory category (non-daily division): "New Rx needed for generics movement" by Alecks P. Pabico, Philippine Center for Investigative Journalism, published in Malaya (Sept. 27-28, 2006); "Tempest in a (feeding) bottle" by Vinia M. Datinguinoo, Philippine Center for Investigative Journalism, published in Malaya (Sept. 6-7, 2006); "Divorce by religion" by Aries Rufo, Newsbreak (Aug. 20, 2006)