PCIJ bags top prizes in JVO awards

THE PCIJ won the top prizes in the non-daily division of this year’s Jaime V. Ongpin Awards for Excellence in Journalism.

PCIJ broadcast director Luz Rimban’s story, “Running on taxpayer’s money,” won first prize in the investigative category in the non-daily division. Rimban’s investigation uncovered how billions in government funds were released as doleouts to local officials in the weeks before and during the campaign of President Gloria Macapagal-Arroyo in 2004.

Rimban has now been elevated to the Hall of Fame of the JVO Awards, after winning the top prize three times in five years. PCIJ executive director Sheila Coronel and Yvonne Chua, training director, are also members of the JVO Awards Hall of Fame.

PCIJ fellow, Cheryl Chan, meanwhile, won first prize in the explanatory category in the non-daily division. Her story, “Perils of Generation Sex,” looked into the growing number of Filipino youths suffering from sexually transmitted infections.

Both winning stories came out in the September 2005 issue of PCIJ’s quarterly, i Report.

Rimban also bagged the third prize in the investigative category for her story on the illegal logging in Aurora and Quezon. The two-part series, “Major players elude government’s anti-logging drive in Aurora,” was published in major dailies on January 31 and February 1, 2005.

Another PCIJ writer, Vinia Datinguinoo, meanwhile, won second prize in the explanatory category for her story, “Mama Can’t Eat.” The story, which was published in the 2005 first quarter issue of the i Report, discussed how women often bear the brunt of hunger.

Other PCIJ finalists were: Alan C. Robles for “Mutants on your plate,” in the explanatory category; and Avigail Olarte, for “So young and so trapo,” and “Trained to care,” in the investigative and explanatory categories, respectively.

The JVO Awards is a yearly event organized by the Center for Media Freedom and Responsibility.

The other top winners are:

Daily division

First prize – Tracing the trail of the tape
Fe Zamora and Gerry Lirio
Philippine Daily Inquirer

Second prize – CAP: From pre-need’s poster boy to whipping boy
Daxim L. Lucas and Elizabeth L. Sanchez
Philippine Daily Inquirer

Third prize – Border dispute leaves Dumagats in a quandary
Fritz Dacpano
The Manila Times

Non-daily division

Second prize – Cheats Inc.
Miriam Grace A. Go
Newsbreak

Explanatory category

Daily division

First prize – Confrontation to cooperation? Labor-management relations evolve in globalization era
Dave Llorito
BusinessMirror

Second prize – Electronic ears listen with bugs and taps
Fil V. Elefante
The Manila Times

Third prize – The economics of corruption
D’Laarni A. Ortiz, Larissa Josephine C. Villa, Roulee Jane F. Calayag, and Ehden Llave-Pelaez
(Noel G. Reyes, Editor)
BusinessWorld

Non-daily division

Third prize – Bataan Nuke Power Plant: Still unused, still paying for it
Lidy Nacpil and Mae Buenaventura
Philippine Graphic

See the complete list of finalists.