MANILA, Philippines — Philippine Daily Inquirer columnist Patricia Evangelista and broadcast journalist Howie Severino have been named recipients of the Titus Brandsma Award-Philippines for journalism, while slain journalists Edgar Damalerio and Marlene Esperat were honored posthumously by the same body for their fearless fight for press freedom.

Titus Brandsma Award-Philippines is the country’s version of the international Titus Brandsma Award given by the Union Catholique Internationale de la Presse, the world forum of professionals in secular and religious media.

The award is named in honor of Blessed Titus Brandsma, a Carmelite priest, journalist, educator and mystic who defended press freedom and the right to education during World War II, even in the face of death. Beatified by Pope John Paul II in November 1985, he was also known as the “Martyr of Press Freedom.”

Evangelista, whose column “Method to Madness” appears every Sunday in Inquirer’s Opinion section, was cited for the Emergent Leadership in Journalism award, while Severino, a veteran broadcast journalist who writes, produces and hosts television documentaries for GMA 7, was cited for Leadership in Journalism. Evangelista was likewise cited for producing documentaries for cable news channel ANC.

The two were chosen unanimously from among other finalists by the Award’s jury for their effective use of media to respond to “people’s clamor for truth on issues and concerns affecting them.”

Damalerio and Esperat were honored because they “stood for the truth in times of threats, compromises, despite odds and reprisals from the powers that be.”

Damalerio, former managing editor of Zamboanga Scribe and radio commentator, was gunned down in May 2002 in Pagadian City, while Esperat, an investigative journalist and antigraft crusader, was shot in her home in Tacurong City in March 2005.