PCIJ reports vie for JVO journalism awards

FIVE PCIJ reports published in 2006 made it to the finals of this year’s Jaime V. Ongpin Awards for Excellence in Journalism (JVOAEJ).

Among the finalists in the awards’ explanatory category, non-daily division are the following stories by PCIJ writers:

• “New Rx needed for generics movement” by Alecks P. Pabico
• “Incentives for the rich harm the poor” by Roel Landingin
• “Tempest in a (feeding) bottle” and Preparing for disaster by Vinia D. Mukherjee

Meanwhile, PCIJ fellow Tess Bacalla’s “Boy’s Town wards cry sexual, physical abuse” was also named a finalist in the investigative category, also in the non-daily division.

The other finalists in this category are Newsbreak magazine’s “The Romualdezes and Equitable Bank” by Lala Rimando (with research by Evelyn Katigbak) and “Making money from making peace” by Aries Rufo; and “Leyte sea roils from rape of WW2 ships” by Inday Espina-Varona with Yvette Lee and Christine Mangulabnan published in the Philippine Graphic.

For the explanatory category, Newsbreak‘s “Seeing red” by Carmela Fonbuena and “Divorce by religion” by Aries Rufo were also chosen as finalists.

For the daily division, the finalists in the explanatory category are:

• “Doing good in bad times” by Daxim L. Lucas and Clarissa S. Batino of the Philippine Daily Inquirer
• “Change oil” by Dave Llorito of Business Mirror
• “Traffic: Time to count the costs” by Paolo Joseph L. Lising with Iris Cecilia C. Gonzales and Kristine L. Alave of BusinessWorld
• “Guimaras oil spill” by the Philippine Daily Inquirer i-Team
• “History is not teacher’s pet” by Jonathan M. Hicap of The Manila Times
• “RP detergent industry struggles to stay afloat” by Mary Ann Ll. Reyes of The Philippine Star

In the investigative category, named finalists are:

• “CSC reels from GMA prerogative to appoint execs” by Jerry E. Esplanada of the Philippine Daily Inquirer
• “Citrus farmers restive over mining project” by Melvin Gascon of the Philippine Daily Inquirer
• “Appointments raise questions in land row” by Felipe Salvosa II with Maria Eloisa I. Calderon of BusinessWorld
• “Untangling the RSBS mess” by Fe Zamora of the Philippine Daily Inquirer

The first-prize winner in each category will receive P70,000; the second-prize winner, P40,000; and the third, P20,000. Finalists will each receive P10,000.

The Marshall McLuhan Prize, a travel study tour of Canada courtesy of the Canadian Embassy, will also be awarded to a finalist in the investigative journalism category. The Australian Embassy, on the other hand, will present the Australian Ambassador’s Award, an observation tour of Australia, to a finalist in the explanatory category.

The JVO journalism awards have been given to Filipino journalists for excellent reporting since 1990. A yearly event organized by the Center for Media Freedom and Responsibility (CMFR), the awards are in honor of the late Jaime V. Ongpin, a known press freedom advocate who served as finance secretary under the post-Marcos Aquino administration.

The PCIJ has consistently won JVO’s top honors over the years, producing the awards’ only three hall-of-famers so far: Sheila Coronel, the Center’s executive director for 15 years until she moved to New York last year to teach at the Columbia University Graduate School of Journalism; Yvonne T. Chua, former training director, now a full-time faculty at the College of Mass Communication at the University of the Philippines; and Luz Rimban, former broadcast director, who teaches at the Ateneo de Manila School of Journalism.

The awards ceremony will be held on June 28, 2007 at the SGV Hall, 3/F AIM Conference Center in Makati. A journalism seminar will precede the awarding at 9:30 a.m.