4 PCIJ writers among finalists in 2008 DAJA

TOKYO — The Philippine Center for Investigative Journalism (PCIJ) is again vying for honors for excellence in journalistic reporting that cover development trends and issues in Asia at the 2008 Developing Asia Journalism Awards (DAJA) organized and sponsored by the Asian Development Bank Institute.

Named finalists from the PCIJ are Malou Mangahas, the Center’s executive director; Alecks P. Pabico, multimedia director; and writing fellows Roel Landingin and Marlon Alexander Luistro for reports written in three of the Awards’ four categories (or strategic areas of development): environment, governance, and infrastructure. The other category is regional integration.

The PCIJ stories are the only entries from the Philippines that made it as finalists in this year’s edition of the DAJA. These are:

• “When Politics Pollute Civil Service: New CSC Chief Faces Pack of Ineligible Bureaucrats” by Mangahas, co-written with Isa Lorenzo (governance);

• “People Power Thrives in Naga City” by Pabico (governance);

• “Bids Sans Caps, Tied Loans Favor Foreign Contractors” by Landingin (infrastructure); and

• “Illegal Fish Cage Operations Poison Taal Lake” by Luistro (environment).

The PCIJ’s writers join 21 journalists from 12 other developing countries in Asia — the People’s Republic of China, India, Indonesia, Kyrgyz Republic, Thailand, Bangladesh, Lao PDR, Myanmar, Nepal, Pakistan, Bhutan, and Sri Lanka — who were selected by a distinguished panel of judges.

Of the 25 finalists, 22 are here at the Japanese capital to also attend a four-day program which commenced Tuesday, November 11, with a workshop on the current thinking on the four strategic areas of development, including macroeconomic stability, private sector development, the role of financial institutions, and impacts of globalization and regionalism. The program will culminate in the awards ceremony on Friday, November 14 at the Foreign Correspondents’ Club of Japan.

Winners in the four categories will be chosen by a distinguished panel of four judges. Two other special prizes, one for Development Journalist of the Year and another for Young Development Journalist of the Year (for entrants under 30), will also be awarded.

At the 2006 DAJA held in Manila, PCIJ fellows Tess Bacalla and Chit Estella were among those declared winners.

Bacalla won the first prize in the Women and Development category for her report, “One Year after Quezon Disaster, Women are Leading their Families toward Recovery.” Estella, on the other hand, emerged first runner-up in the Poverty Issues category for her story, “Substandard Nursing Schools Sell Dreams of a Life Abroad.”

The Tokyo-based ADBI was established in 1997 to help build capacity and knowledge related to poverty reduction and other areas that support long-term growth in developing economies in Asia and the Pacific.