Voice talent ‘Lola Sela’ wins UP Gawad Plaridel

The University of the Philippines’ (UP) College of Mass Communication on Thursday announced the awarding of the 2011 UP Gawad Plaridel to Eloisa Cruz Canlas.

Known to many as “Lola Sela Bungangera,” Canlas was chosen for her outstanding contributions to the broadcasting industry, particularly in radio.

Canlas is a self-taught talent, starting out as a production assistant for the drama programs of radio station dzRH in the 1960s. Throughout the 1970s and 1980s, she voiced many different characters and gave life to popular local AM figures such as Zimatar and Eng-Eng in “Adventures of Zimatar.”

She was also a talent for numerous other shows such as “Gabi ng Lagim,” “Mr. Romantiko” and “Hukumang Pantahanan.”

<strong>Freelance voice</strong>

Canlas continues to be active as a freelance voice talent for commercials, anime shows and other radio/TV programs. She also hosts the “Pondahan” segment of cable network UNTV’s “Good Morning, Kuya.”

She was the executive producer of “Drama Sa Nuebe Nubenta” of dzIQ Radyo Inquirer 990, the broadcast arm of the Inquirer Group of Companies.

Canlas will receive the Plaridel Award, which comes with a trophy by National Artist Napoleon Abueva, in a ceremony on July 20 at the UP Film Institute’s Cine Adarna. She will deliver a lecture on important issues in the radio broadcasting industry.

<strong>Excellence</strong>

Now on its seventh year, the UP Gawad Plaridel recognizes Filipino media practitioners who have excelled in print, radio, film, television or new media and have performed with the highest level of professional integrity in the interest of public service.

Its honorees include Inquirer founding chair Eugenia Duran-Apostol (2004), Vilma Santos (2005), Fidela Magpayo (2006), Cecilia L. Lazaro (2007), Pachico A. Seares (2008), and Kidlat Tahimik (2009), who were recognized for outstanding contributions in print, film, radio, TV, community print media, and independent filmmaking, respectively.

The award is named after Marcelo H. del Pilar (nom de plume: Plaridel), the propagandist whose stewardship of the reformist newspaper La Solidaridad helped crystallize nationalist sentiments and ignite libertarian ideas in the 1890s.