SUNSTAR Davao won anew at the recently concluded 13th Jose G. Burgos Jr. Awards for Biotechnology Journalism Wednesday, November 27. The awarding was held in Quezon City.
Ace June Rell Perez, SunStar Davao editor and social media strategist, got the second place in the Feature Category for his article "Golden price for Golden Rice." He also got the third place in the News Category for his article "Farmers to explore Agri-Biotech Farming."
"This is another proof that SunStar Davao is for evidence-based and science-based reporting. Biotechnology and science in general, is one of the less-covered fields in media but it plays a very important role in our daily lives especially on food security," said Perez.
"Hopefully, a lot of journalists will also look into biotechnology and write objective and evidence-based stories about it," he added.
Other winners for the Feature Category include Louise Maureen Simeon (1st place) of The Philippine Star and Stephanie Tumampos (3rd place) of Business Mirror.
News Category winners include Jasper Arcalas (1st place) of Business Mirror and Charissa Luci-Atienza (2nd place) of Manila Bulletin.
"We are happy to receive another set of awards this year. We would like to congratulate Ace Perez on this. We are committed to continue to write stories that will inspire our readers and inform them on the latest developments in science and technology," said Reuel John Lumawag, SunStar Davao editor-in-chief.
Aside from being SunStar Davao's social media strategist, Perez also covers stories on business, agriculture, environment, and lifestyle.
The Jose G. Burgos Jr. Awards for Biotechnology Journalism is annually done to recognize outstanding members of the media who have contributed to the promotion of biotechnology. The awards was established 11 years ago with the intent to encourage scientific discourse and inquiry.
For this year, judges include Rev. Fr. Emmanuel Noli C. Alparce, Chair Tech Committee for Info, Education, and Communication of DA National Biotechnology Program; Dr. Abraham J. Manalo, executive secretary of Biotech Coalition of the Philippines; and Georgina Carmelle Siena, communication specialist chief of the Info Division of DA-Bureau of Soil and Water Management.