Part Two
SAVE The Children Philippines recently launched its third Media Awards to recognize journalists, photographers and video producers who have provided outstanding coverage on child malnutrition in the Philippines today, in particular of children under 5 years old.
Alex Badayos’s “Food For Tot” was awarded the Most Outstanding Photograph, which is a black-and-white depiction of a toddler trying to eat a bowl of rice. When he received the award, Badayos said that he took the picture to show that while malnutrition is a global problem, it also happens right in his neighborhood.
Andres Patricio Bonifacio’s “Si Inay at ang kanyang inakay,” a picture of a mother and her three children sitting in a riverside shanty, won the People’s Choice Award for photography. A public school teacher, Bonifacio said he’d share his cash prize winnings to start a feeding program at the school where he teaches.
The Most Outstanding Article award was given to “Wasted Children” by Cherry Ann Lim, who writes for one of Central Visayas’s major newspapers. Hailing from Cebu, Lim said that while her province is among the richest in the country, almost 1 million there lived in poverty, pointing to a high prevalence of malnutrition. Through her reporting, Lim found that as of SY 2016 to 2017, up to 11 percent (or around 36,000) of the children enrolled in public elementary schools under the Department of Education’s Cebu Provincial School Division were undernourished—being either underweight or stunted.
Joseph Tristan Roxas, meanwhile, received the People’s Choice Award for the article, “Senate hikes P13 daily daycare meal allowance to P20.” A journalist for one of the country’s prominent online news outlets, Roxas said the awards have become an added motivation for him to work harder, not just for his readers, but also for the children who really need the public’s attention.
Coverage on North Cotabato by GMA News’s Biyaheng Totoo was awarded the Most Outstanding Special Feature. Members of the production team said the work they do is “always for the others, the marginalized, the voiceless and the oppressed.”
The Most Outstanding Short Film award was given to Mukha by ABS-CBN News Channel. Members from the ANC team said that among documentarists, it may seem that all the stories about malnutrition have already been written. But in their view, what’s more important is that media men and women keep on writing these stories because malnutrition is still widely experienced today.
Gutom by Reel Time of GMA News was awarded Most Outstanding Full Length. Gutom was about Baby Ruel who was 2 years old but weighed as much as a 5-month-old baby. Members of the production team said that once their documentary aired, assistance for Baby Ruel came flooding in, such that today, he receives regular checkups. They said that as media professionals, they are given both the power and responsibility to use different media platforms to help change people’s lives.
Save The Children’s Media Awards was about honoring print and broadcast journalists who truly care about our children. As they said, the awards gave them extra motivation to spread awareness among Filipinos about the scourge of malnutrition among our children.
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