The Philippine Agricultural Journalists Inc. (PAJ), the country’s second oldest professional media organization in the country, and San Miguel Corp. (SMC) have once more partnered to conduct the 2017 Binhi Awards for agricultural journalism.
PAJ President and former Philippine Star business editor Roman Floresca thanked SMC President and COO Ramon S. Ang for his continuing support to the PAJ and Binhi Awards, which was first launched in 1978.
“We sincerely express our deepest gratitude to the SMC and Ramon S. Ang for their continued support to the PAJ and Binhi Awards, as we continue to raise the bar of reportage of the country’s agricultural, fishery and agribusiness developments and breakthroughs,” Floresca said.
On behalf of Ang, SMC Media Affairs Group Head Mary Jane Oconer Llanes said, “We at SMC has had the privilege to partner with the PAJ to encourage more journalists to write more inspiring stories on the Philippine countryside. We believe the Binhi Awards is an effective avenue to honor the efforts of our colleagues to share with the general public the struggles, triumphs and breakthroughs of our farmers, fishers, countryside entrepreneurs.
“In addition to the regular contest categories, this year we will grant a special award on the best ‘water sustainability’ story,” Llanes added. The story should delve on successful efforts of individuals or a community to employ water harvesting or conservation technologies for irrigation or potable water system, or other sustainable water projects. The winning entry will receive a P20,000 cash and a special prize from SMC.
In all, the 2017 PAJ-SMC Binhi Awards features 17 individual and institutional contest categories, said contest chairperson Noel Reyes, PAJ vice president for internal affairs.
The three major categories are the year’s best agricultural journalist-agri-beat reporter and environment journalist, where the first-second- and third-place winners will receive P50,000, P25,000 and P15,000 cash prizes, respectively.
Contestants can also vie for other five minor individual categories, namely: agri news story agri feature story, environment story, climate story and agri photojournalist of the year. Only one winner per category will be proclaimed, who will receive P20,000 cash prize and a trophy.
The other nine institutional or group categories are agri or environment section of a national publication; agri or environment section of a regional or provincial newspaper; agri magazine; agri newsletter; national agri radio program; provincial or community agri radio program; national agri TV program; regional or provincial agri TV program; and agri info/advocacy and/or media campaign. Winners will each get P20,000 cash prize and a trophy.
All entries should be published, shown, aired or implemented during the 12-month contest period, from November 1, 2016 to October 31, 2017, and submitted on or before December 15, 2017 to: The 2017 PAJ-SMC Binhi Awards Committee, c/o Filipino Inventors Society Producer Cooperative, Ground Floor, Delta Building, West Avenue corner Quezon Avenue, Quezon City.
For contest requirements and inquiries, kindly call or text 0920-4889686 or visit the PAJ web site: www.pajofficial.com.