CAOAYAN, ILOCOS SUR -- Department of Education (DepEd) assistant secretary (Asec) G.H. Ambat appealed to some 200 participants of the "Communicate Sports", a sports journalism seminar for the youth, to have an open mind and heart to learn from the two-day activity that kicked off at the Nueva Segovia Consortium Cooperative (NSCC) Hotel Vigan here on Friday.
Ambat said, "We at DepEd, we are mining treasures out of our learners to bring out the gold. Knowing that you are already talented and gifted, as iron sharpens iron, feel that you are being sharpened. Never stop honing your talents and enhancing your skills. Seminars like this will prepare you for the world out there."
Participants include students who have won in recent and past National Schools Press Conference (NSSPC) or Regional Schools Press Conference (RSPC) from 17 regions in the country.
Philippine Sports Commission (PSC) Public Communications head Emmalyn P. Bamba said each region has at least five representatives of students and advisers. But the host region, Ilocos, had the most number of delegates.
Asec Ambat continued, "Storytelling doesn't stop in Palaro. As student journalists, we depend on you in spreading correct information, not fake news stories of Deped. Napakaraming storya ng Palarong Pambansa, not only games. We have a lot of good athletes, write about them."
The Palarong Pambansa 2018 is set to open here Sunday.
She also thanked the PSC for sponsoring the sports journalism seminar, which she said will go a long way in helping student writers develop their craft.
PSC Commissioner Charles Raymond A. Maxey, meanwhile, urged student journalists to read more. Kung hindi kayo nagbabasa ng dyaryo o kahit sa news websites, hindi kayo matututo. Learning is a never ending process. Dapat read, read and read. Never cease reading."
PSC Commissioner Celia Kiram also urged the campus journalists to verify facts in their reports.
Maxey also presented the grassroot sports and elite sports programs of the PSC while Kiram oriented participants about the PSC.
DepEd Undersecretary Tionisito Umali was set to discuss the Legal Foundation of the Palarong Pambansa as of Friday presstime while DepEd Multimedia Office's Geli Blanco was to tackle the online presence of DepEd and DepEd-Davao's Gem Valderrama was tasked to talk about journalism and social media ethics.
Today's topics include "Setting the Editorial Direction for Coverage of Palarong Pambansa" by Asec Ambat, "Sports News Writing" by SunStar Davao sports editor Marianne L. Saberon-Abalayan, "Sports News Feature Writing" by Valderrama, "Photography and Designing the Sports Page" by Dabawenyo columnist Ed Fernandez.
Resource speakers from the Philippine Information Agency will also be on hand for "Responsible Sharing of Information" and "Content Curation and Development Stories".
This is the third stop of the PSC’s sports journalism seminar after the success of the first two legs held in Davao City and Batangas City. (PR)