Newsbriefs

JUSTICE AWARDS FOR JOURNOS THIS DECEMBER

THE second edition of the Justice Awards for Cebu-based journalists and media practitioners will be held on December this year.

Organized by the International Justice Mission (IJM) and the Peace and Conflict Journalism Network (Pecojon), the awards will pay tribute to print, broadcast and digital media practitioners who reported extensively on human trafficking.

“If more people will know about human trafficking, that there were more traffickers convicted and victims saved, then the public will be encouraged to be part of our campaign,” IJM Philippines national director Andrey Sawchenko said.

Cebu Vice Gov. Agnes Magpale, who was present during yesterday’s event, said more people should be involved in the campaign against human trafficking.

“This is going to be a long fight. We can’t do this alone. With this Justice Awards, we get more people involved,” said Magpale, the chairperson of the Provincial Women’s Commission (PWC).

IJM and Pecojon tapped the assistance of the Cebu Alliance of Masscom Students (CAMS) led by Bienvenido Fernandez in carrying out the 2nd Justice Award.

The Justice Award is open to all Cebu-based journalists. They may submit news reports, features, and documentaries on human trafficking.

Video reports uploaded in an online news site can be submitted as an entry.

The entries may be in Cebuano, English, or Filipino. Entries must be submitted in two copies. Each entry must have an accompanying authentication from the news outfit where the entry was published or broadcasted.

Qualified entries must be published from Nov. 12, 2011 to Nov. 1, 2013. The deadline for the submission of entries is on Nov. 11, 2013.

DILG SEEKS NATIONAL CONSENSUS ON SK

MORE than half of the youth serving in the Sangguniang Kabataan (SK) in highly-urbanized areas in the country are related to their city’s elected local officials.

The finding came from a study conducted by the Department of Interior and Local Government (DILG) according to DILG-7 Regional Director Ananias Villacorta.

With the recent statistics, DILG decided to consider calls from various sectors of the society that tagged the SK as “highly-politicized” with public consultation on whether to “abolish or reform the SK,” Villacorta said in a forum held by the Philippine Information Agency 7 (PIA-7) yesterday.

“The clamor for abolition and reform rose probably because the public hasn’t seen the usefulness of the SK,” He added. He said the consultation on August 27 at the Ecotech Center in Sudlon, Lahug will ask for insights of representatives from youth organizations and representatives of each local government unit (LGU) in the province.

He said the public consultation will be done in each region of the country to help the DILG weigh the public’s stance on the SK. Correspondent Peter L. Romanillos