The Pampanga Press Club (PPC) has hailed Kara Patria Constantino David for winning this year’s Most Outstanding Kapampangan Award (MOKA) for Mass Media.
The award highlighted her achievements as a journalist, an advocate of humanitarian welfare, and an educator.
PPC President Lincoln Baluyut said David continues to inspire her fellow Kapampangans and the whole nation through her passion for truth-telling and commitment to social change.
“Congratulations to our kabalen Kara David, a renowned Filipino journalist, educator and philanthropist, who continues to inspire her fellow Kapampangans - and even the whole nation - through her passion for truth-telling,” Baluyut said.
The PPC president added that David's career, spanning over 28 years, is a testament to her dedication to the journalism profession.
“Her works have not only garnered critical acclaim but also brought attention to pressing social issues. Luid ka, Kara!” Baluyut added.
PPC Chair Noel Tulabut said David comes from a family that is dedicated to community service.
“It is no surprise that she is getting the utmost recognition in Pampanga. Her pretty looks transcendent to the beauty of her journalistic service in the country,” Tulabut said.
Peter Alagos, a PPC past president and the 2024 MOKA awardee for mass media, said David is a well-deserved winner of the award.
"Congratulations to Ms. Kara David for being this year's well-deserved recipient of the 'Most Outstanding Kapampangan Award' (MOKA) in the field of mass media. This milestone is well-deserved; her commitment to truthful and compassionate storytelling exemplifies the finest qualities of the Kapampangan. Luid!" Alagos said.
The panel of MOKA judges, led by Tonette Orejas, MOKA awardee for journalism, chose David as a runaway winner.
“The themes, volume, and quality of her documentaries reflect Philippine society’s ills, challenges, and the Filipinos’ capacity to rise over and over again, “said Orejas.
She added that David’s authentic voice in storytelling adds to her credibility as a journalist.
“She also mentors aspiring journalists by teaching at UP Diliman. Her Project Malasakit mobilizes support in communities,” Orejas said.
Meanwhile, Abe Tayag, president of the Abacan River and Angeles Watershed Advocacy Council, Inc. (ARAW-ACI), said David’s body of works and documentaries have effected social change and created an opportunity for the marginalized sector to be “seen and heard” and their issues amplified.
Tayag said ARAW-ACI will always remember her I-Witness documentaries titled “Paraisong Uhaw” and “Disyerto sa Dagat”, both elevating the pitiable condition and the struggle of poor residents in Masbate who do not have access to clean and potable water.
“A multi-awarded Kapampangan journalist and an advocate of social equity and humanitarian welfare, Kara David truly deserves the MOKA recognition. Her body of works reflects her sincerity and integrity, not only as a journalist, but also as a leader who can effect change through advocacy,” Tayag added.
David is known for her investigative and multi-awarded documentaries in GMA7’s I-Witness.
She is the founder and president of Project Malasakit, a foundation that helps the people she has featured in her documentaries.
For David, the mission has always been to use the mass media as a vehicle to cultivate solidarity, to deepen the capacity to empathize with the powerless, the oppressed, and the hopeless.
She is known to tackle especially difficult subjects like child labor, malnutrition, indigenous rights, and mental health, bringing voices to those who are mostly unheard.
Her documentaries did not only capture the audience's attention but also reached international recognition.
David won the George Foster Peabody Award in 2010 for the documentary Ambulansyang de Paa, exposing the serious lack of access to healthcare in rural Philippines.