Here comes the JVOAEJ finalists

This looks like a very interesting year for the Jaime V. Ongpin Awards for Excellence in Journalism (JVOAEJ).

The Awards, which is administered by the Center for Media Freedom and Responsibility (CMFR), is now on its 17th year. With this year's innovation, I am sure JVOAEJ, considered as one of the most prestigious journalism awards in the country, will get a lot of reaction (both positive and negative) from the press community. But I guess I'll leave it at that first.

A look at the finalists shows that topics of entries this year (works that were published last year) are widely varied: articles discussed government corruption, the Pinoy caregivers, the anti-logging drive in the Aurora province, sex and the Filipino youth, among other things.

But one thing that strikes out is the prevalance of reports that focused on the "Hello, Garci" controversy, the worst crisis to hit Arroyo's presidency yet.

For more information about the Jaime V. Ongpin Awards for Excellence in Journalism, please contact the Center for Media Freedom and Responsibility, the JVOAEJ secretariat, at any of the following numbers: 894-1326 or 894-1314.

JVOAEJ Winners to be announced on June 29
The Center for Media Freedom and Responsibility (CMFR), in cooperation with the Ateneo de Manila University, will announce the winners of the 17th annual Jaime V. Ongpin Awards for Excellence in Journalism (JVOAEJ) for works published in 2005 on June 29 (Thursday) at a program to be held at the AIM Conference Center Manila (Benavidez corner Trasierra Sts., Legaspi Village, Makati City).

The awards ceremony will follow the Jaime V. Ongpin Journalism Seminar which starts at 9:30 AM. As has been the practice since 1995, selected finalists participate in a panel discussion about their articles and take questions from the audience, especially journalism faculty and students.

As administrator of the awards, CMFR introduced an innovation for this year’s selection. Reports published by daily newspapers are now judged separately from those published by non-dailies. Thus, there are two sets of first, second and third prizes for investigative journalism and explanatory reporting.

In the explanatory category, five finalists from the dailies and six from non-dailies are competing for the top prizes; while in the investigative category, there are five and six, respectively.

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.

Winners and finalists will receive a plaque.

Two of the four first-prize winners will receive a travel grant each. This is the 10th year that the Canadian Embassy will award the Marshall McLuhan Prize, a travel study tour of , for the winner in the investigative category. And for the fourth time, the Australian Embassy will present the Australian Ambassador’s Award, an observation tour of , to the winner in the explanatory category.

CMFR will choose the recipients of the two travel study grants.

The first awards were given in 1990 to honor the late Jaime V. Ongpin, who was secretary of finance during the Aquino administration. A press freedom advocate, Ongpin was involved in the struggle against the Marcos dictatorship and was instrumental in harnessing public support for the restoration of democracy in the .

This year, the JVOAEJ is sponsored by The Asia Foundation with support from the United States Agency for International Development.

FINALISTS:

Explanatory Category

Daily Division

* The economics of corruption
D’Laarni A. Ortiz, Larissa Josephine C. Villa, Roulee Jane F. Calayag,
Ehden Llave-Pelaez
(Noel G. Reyes, Editor)
BusinessWorld
July 19, 2005

* Philippine economic progress since 1988
The ‘good old days’
John Mangun
BusinessMirror December 1-3, 2005

* Electronic ears listen with bugs and taps
Fil V. Elefante
The Manila Times June 27-29, 2005

* Graduating class: Education, labor mismatch
Norman P. Aquino
BusinessWorld March 10, 2005

* Confrontation to cooperation?
Labor-management relations evolve in globalization era
Dave Llorito
BusinessMirror November 2, 2005

Non-Daily

* Mutants on your plate
Alan C. Robles
Philippine Center for Investigative Journalism
Published in i Report January-March 2005

* Focus on Filipino youth:
Perils of generation sex
Cheryl Chan
Philippine Center for Investigative Journalism
Published in i Report September 2005

* Broken promises
Lala Rimando, Cathy Rose Garcia and Elena Torrijos
Newsbreak
January 31, 2005

* Trained to care
Avigail Olarte
Philippine Center for Investigative Journalism
Published in i Report January-March 2005

* Bataan nuke power plant: Still unused, still paying for it
Lidy Nacpil and Mae Buenaventura
Philippine Graphic March 14, 2005

* Mama can’t eat
Vinia M. Datinguinoo
Philippine Center for Investigative Journalism
Published in i Report January-March 2005

Investigative Category

Daily

* Bailout costs too much for deposit insurer
Norman P. Aquino
BusinessWorld November 29-December 1, 2005

* Tracing the trail of the tape
Fe Zamora and Gerry Lirio
Philippine Daily Inquirer September 17-18, 2005

* Border dispute leaves Dumagats in quandary
Fritz Dacpano
The Manila Times April 25-26, 2005

* Palawan’s gas pains
Jofelle Tesorio
Philippine Daily Inquirer January 13, 2005

* CAP: From pre-need’s poster boy to whipping boy
Daxim L. Lucas and Elizabeth L. Sanchez
Philippine Daily Inquirer September 19-21, 2005

Non-Daily

* So young and so trapo
Avigail Olarte
Philippine Center for Investigative Journalism
Published in i Report September 2005

* Running on taxpayers’ money
Luz Rimban
Philippine Center for Investigative Journalism
Published in i Report September 2005

* Guns and gold
Gemma B. Bagayaua
Newsbreak December 5, 19, 2005 and January 30, 2006

* Major players elude government’s anti-logging drive in Aurora
Luz Rimban
Philippine Center for Investigative Journalism
Published in BusinessWorld, Cebu Daily News, Malaya, Philippine Daily Inquirer and Sun.Star Daily on January 31-February 1, 2005

* For land and wages
Half a century of peasant struggle at Hacienda Luisita
Dabet Castañeda
Bulatlat.com
Published in Philippine Graphic on January 3-10, 2005 and January 17, 2005

* Cheats Inc.
Miriam Grace A. Go
Newsbreak September 12, 2005