GMA Cebu skips website award

GMA-7 Cebu won the Best Corporate Website category by the Catholic Mass Media Awards (CMMA) last night but declined the award, saying they have yet to launch the website.

Albert Aballe, editor of the website, said they had not yet launched the awarded site since it is still under testing stage.

“It should not be awarded because we had not gone public yet. Its still under construction,” Aballe said.

He said they were notified of the nomination even if they didn’t apply for the category.

Aballe said he told CAMMA organizers that they would decline the nomination.

“I thought they understood it. I was very surprised when they told me that it won,” he said.

Aballe said they would still keep the site as a secret since it wasn’t officially launched.

Teoddie Dumam-ag, CAMMA chairperson and dean of the College of Arts and Sciences of the University of San Jose Recoletos, said he never saw the website himself.

He said they didn’t receive any reply from GMA declining the nomination.

The jurors of the corporate website category were representatives from the Cebu Normal University, USJR and other selected organizations.

Dumam-ag said he also sent a text message to GMA finalizing the nomination but he did not receive a reply.

During last night’s awarding ceremony, Dumam-ag said he received a text from Aballe saying that they would decline the award.

“Aballe’s not the authorized person to return it,” he said.

Dumam-ag said the event won’t have any negative effect on the CAMMA awarding committee.

“We provide the avenue to recognize the values espoused by the Commission,” he said.

Other CAMMA winners include Luis Quibranza of Sun.Star for Best English feature and Sun.Star’s Justin K. Vestil for Best English News. Best English Column went to Fr. Roy Cimagala of The Freeman.

Best TV news program went to TV Patrol Central Visayas of ABS-CBN Cebu while DYHP bagged the best news program for radio. Reporter Candeze R. Mongaya