MANILA — Pampanga-based reporter Ian Ocampo Flora won in the 7th Bright Leaf Journalism Awards 2013 for Best Agriculture Feature Story, besting hundreds of entries in the said category.
Flora was awarded a certificate and cash prize at the Hyatt Hotel here the other day. The event was attended by Bright Leaf winners and mass media practitioners from Metro Manila and other provinces.
Launched in 2007, the Bright Leaf Agriculture Journalism Awards is the premier competition that seeks out the most important agriculture stories of our time and honors the journalists behind them. It is a competition for published stories, radio segments, television features, and photographs, which created awareness on the most current agricultural issues and the best farming practices on environmental care, safety, and crop sustainability.
Bright Leaf Agriculture Journalism Awards project director David Isaac Buenaventura said that Flora’s entry “Urban village takes initiative on adaptive climate change farming” have exceeded standards in the said category and have passed through rigorous judging process of the award.
Some 1,434 entries were sent in this year’s competition. The article chronicles the efforts of the residents and government officials of Barangay Del Pilar of the City of San Fernando in adapting to the challenges of climate change and prevailing local conditions. Barangay Del Pilar has launched the first-ever floating garden in Pampanga using water hyacinths as floating rafts for garden and vegetable cultivation in an area that has been perennially flooded each year.
Flora said that the award inspires him to do more in terms of community reporting. Aside from being a local reporter, Flora is also a college professor. He currently manages a farm he inherited from his parents in Sta. Rita town.
Other winners included Fermin C. Diaz of Lamb Magazine (Agriculture Story of the Year), Teodoro Molina of the Philippine Star (Tobacco Story of the Year), David Leprozo of Manila Standard Toady (Agriculture Photo of the Year), Mauricio Victa of Business Mirror (Tobacco Photo of the Year), Eva Esperas of the Philippine Star (Best Agriculture News Story-National), Romer Sarmiento of Minda News (Best Agriculture News Story-Regional), Marilou Guieb of Business Mirror (Best Agriculture Feature Story-National), Rose Malekchan of DZWT540 Radyo Totoo (Best Agriculture Radio Program or Segment), and Kenneth Bajo of SkyCable/DE Channel 32 (Best Agriculture TV Program or Segmant). This year’s Oriental Leaf Award went to Inez Magbual. The board of judges was composed of Science Columnist Crispin C. Maslog, Ph.D., Business World Columnist Albert Gamboa, CCP Information Officer and Head Writer Michele Logarta, De La Salle Araneta University professor Steve Nicol Ching, Media Criticism and Photo Journalism professor Alfredo Gabot, Philippine Star Columnist Alfred ”Krip" Yuson , Officer-in-Charge of Media Arts and Communication at CCP. Edward Cabagnot, Rice Today Magazine editor Lanie Reyes, Writer & Contributor from the Philippine Daily Inquirer Rene Guatlo, News anchor in DZMM, and TV Patrol, ABSCBN field reporter Jasmin Romero, ABSCBN Award-winning broadcast journalist Ces Orena-Drilon, and Daily Tribune Publisher and Editor-in-Chief Niñez Cacho-Olivares.