FOR WRITING about New Bilibid Prison (NBP) inmates being given a second chance through alternative learning, Inquirer Metro reporter Jovic Yee was named one of the winners in last week’s 2015 Lasallian Scholarum Awards.
Yee won in the outstanding published feature article on youth and education in a nationally circulated publication category for his article titled “DepEd chief to Bilibid grads: We’re not that different.”
The feature which came out in the March 15 issue of the Inquirer’s Metro section focused on the speech of Education Secretary Armin Luistro during the graduation ceremony for the NBP’s over 500 inmates who had enrolled in the Department of Education’s Alternative Learning System (ALS).
Under the ALS, the convicts, even those serving life sentences, were able to acquire livelihood skills.
In his speech, Luistro had emphasized that normal people were no different than inmates.
“We all made mistakes and not just once. The difference is that you were sent to prison while we were not caught. We cannot stand here and say ‘you are bad, we are good’…. We are all the same: The lessons in life you now know are the same lessons we should also learn,” Luistro said.
For his story, Yee was recognized during the 12th Lasallian Scholarum Awards held last Monday, receiving a cash prize and a souvenir of achievement or a trophy called the “Flight.” An artwork designed and crafted by artist Daniel dela Cruz, it symbolizes the award-giving institution’s way of acknowledging youth and education stories which urge the public “to change or to take flight.”
JOVIC Yee takes “Flight.” NIÑO JESUS ORBETA
Aside from Yee, 24 other Inquirer reporters, correspondents, columnists and photographers were also named finalists in several categories.
They included photographers Lyn Rillon, Edwin Bacasmas, Mark Alvic Esplana, Joan Bondoc, Niño Jesus Orbeta, reporters/correspondents Grace Shangkuan Koo, Michael B. Jaucian, Jhoanna Marie
Buenaobra, Joel Nigos, Vaughn Alviar, Niña Calleja, DJ Yap, Janice Maglasang, Rene O. Durian and Annelle Tayao Juego, editors Fernando del Mundo, Linda B. Bolido and Chelo Banal-Formoso and columnists Ma. Ceres P. Doyo, Randy David, Michael L. Tan, Oscar Franklin Tan, Christopher Ryan Maboloc and Audrey Tan- Zubiri.
Sen. Sonny Angara, who headed the panel of judges, said that the awardees were able to convey stories “which give human experiences justice.”
“By arranging details into narratives, these stories crystalize and clarify. We grasp the gravity of issues like inaccessible education, out of school youth, or poverty,” he told the audience in his speech.
Angara also highlighted media’s role to curate stories and shed light on national issues to shape people’s consciousness.
“We pay tribute to them in highlighting Filipino youth and education. Recognizing stories that inspire solutions is not only welcome and appreciated but very much needed,” the senator added, noting that these stories also give meaning to universal quality education, equal opportunity and social advancement.
For his part, De La Salle University president Raymundo Suplido said that he hoped the Scholarum Awards would encourage media “to explore stories in the most unexpected places.”
“Media work challenges us to think, to work individually and together to genuinely push for positive change,” he added.