PCIJ wins two Rotary awards

The Philippine Center for Investigative Journalism has been honored with two more awards for excellence in journalism.

On Thursday, May 19, the Rotary Club of Manila named PCIJ Fellow and Mindanews Editor Carolyn O. Arguillas as Investigative Reporter of the Year for her series of articles exposing the unexplained yet ostentatious wealth of the Ampatuan clan of Maguindanao.

Prominent members of the Ampatuan clan, led by patriarch Andal Ampatuan Sr. and his son Andal Jr. are accused of masterminding the murder of 58 people, including 32 journalists, on November 23, 2009.

Apart from Arguillas, PCIJ Multimedia Director Ed Lingao was named Journalist of the Year for his stories detailing the rise of the Ampatuans in Maguindanao, as well as the growth of their private army.

The Rotary awards came just two weeks after the International Committee on the Red Cross (ICRC) and the Philippine National Red Cross conferred on the PCIJ three special citations during the first Red Cross Humanitarian Reporting Awards. The Red Cross cited the PCIJ-produced documentary, “Maguindanao:Isang Taon’, as well as other PCIJ stories that tackled the rise to prominence of members of the Ampatuan clan and their apparent abuse of authority and misuse of government funds. PCIJ May 2011