The Good News Pilipinas feature article on Lasallian freedom fighters Jose “Ka Pepe” Diokno, Lorenzo “Ka Tanny” Tañada, and Bishop Felix Paz Perez has been named the Outstanding Feature Story on De La Salle University at the recently concluded 17th Lasallian Scholarum Awards (LSA).
GoodNewsPilipinas.com managing editor Aurora Quadra-Balibay’s story, “Lasallian heroes against Martial Law honored on International Day of Peace” won the major award for professional media published feature story while GMA News reporter Atom Araullo won the video story category while Kara David received a commendation in this year’s virtual awarding ceremony held via Zoom and streamed live on the DLSU Manila Facebook page on March 9, 2022.
The Lasallian Scholarum Awards also awarded reporters Rizal Raoul Reyes, Claudeth Mocon-Ciriaco, and Mike Policarpio from the Business Mirror, Neil Jayson Servallos from the Philippine Center for Investigative Journalism and OneNews.PH, as well as student journalists Alexandra Simone Enriquez and Criscela Ysabelle Racelis from The Lasallian. Noel Pabalate of Manila Bulletin also received a commendation.
READ THE WINNING FEATURE STORY HERE: Lasallian heroes against Martial Law honored on International Day of Peace
The winning story featured Lasallian-educated Filipino leaders Jose “Ka Pepe” Diokno, Lorenzo “Ka Tanny” Tañada, and Bishop Felix Paz Perez who were honored during the United Nations International Day of Peace and the 49th Anniversary of Martial Law in the Philippines in September 2021.
The life stories of the three Filipino icons who fought against military rule in the country were shared by their representatives – Ka Tanny’s grandson Erin Tañada, Ka Pepe’s daughter Cookie Diokno, and Bishop Felix’s former seminarian and biographer Aido Sepeda – in the webinar “Heroes of Peace: A Conversation on Lasallian Advocates of Active Non-Violence During Martial Law” organized by De La Salle Philippines (DLSP) through the Lasallian Justice and Peace Commission.
In an interview for De La Salle University-Dasmarinas where Quadra-Balibay teaches, the guest practitioner faculty at the Communication and Journalism Department spoke about the value of the award and the Good News Pilipinas advocacy.
“While I was seeing multi-awarded reporters Atom Araullo and Kara David given recognition by the Lasallian media awards, I started mulling the value of awards. To our Good News Pilipinas team, the finalist recognition was already an affirmation of our advocacy to make good news stories part of everyone’s daily consumption along with hard news reports that allow people to make informed decisions about their lives. There has to be a balance, we always say,” Balibay said.
“Actually winning the Lasallian Scholarum Awards is a challenge for us to keep finding stories that help the youth make sense of Philippine history so they can make informed decisions for their future and the Philippines’ future.I personally welcome this award as an affirmation of what I teach journalism students in De La Salle University Dasmarinas – that stories about the greatness of the Filipino people do matter and that even if such stories are not covered by other media we need to keep creating, producing, and publishing content as a form of public service,” she added.
The annual Lasallian Scholarum Awards (LSA) recognizes outstanding coverage of youth and education stories in professional and student media. It aims to inspire members of the professional media to put youth and education at the front and center of national consciousness and seeks to encourage various stakeholders and the society at large to advance the plight of these sectors.
The finalists and winners for the media awards were screened and judged by this year’s panel of judges comprised of PHINMA Corporation Vice President, Chief Risk Officer & Director for Strategy Danielle del Rosario, Asia Foundation Chief of Party, Youth Leadership for Development Nathalie Christine Jorge, Signum Fidei Association National Brother Adviser and DLSU Senior High School faculty member Br. Richie Yap FSC, Independent executive producer and writer Lolita Lachica, and multi-awarded Lasallian student leader Emmanuel Mirus Ponon.
The 2022 edition of the journalism awarding ceremony was hosted by popular content creator Justin Quirino and centered on the theme “Kabanata ng Kabataan” which emphasizes the role of the youth in taking on unprecedented challenges in education amid the pandemic.
The professional media awardees will each receive a sculpture by Filipino multi-media artist and University of the Philippines Fine Arts professor, Toym Imao.
Last year’s Lasallian Scholarum Awards awarded journalists behind five stories released on professional and youth media that highlighted the resilience of the country’s youth and education sectors.
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