BIG WINNERS at the NY fest awards show held in Tribeca recently. GMA 7 documentarians (from left) Jiggy Manicad, Sandra Aguinaldo, Arnold Clavio, Maki Pulido, Howie Severino and Jun Veneracion flash wide grins with their Gold, Silver and Bronze medals.
MANILA, Philippines - It is the biggest number of awards that GMA 7 News and Public Affairs has won at the New York Festivals since the late 1980s, according to Nessa Valdellon, vice president for public affairs.
Five medals
From the recently concluded last edition of the annual gathering, Kapuso reporters brought home five medals―one gold, two silver and two bronze.
“Our mission is to tell compelling stories that push viewers to action,” said Valdellon.
“Reporter’s Notebook” host Maki Pulido, who shared a Gold World medal with co-host Jiggy Manicad for the documentary, “Mga Batang Kalakal,” said that the story of her subject Lisa, a child scavenger in Bagong Silang, Kalookan, was an eye-opener.
“All she wanted was a new pair of shoes,” she told Inquirer Entertainment.
Wish for long term-support
A lot of viewers, including some GMA 7 employees, came together to help not only Lisa, but the other scavengers as well. “But my wish is for long-term support,” said Pulido.
She visited Lisa in the latter’s shanty town last holiday season. “I was impressed most of all by how much she wanted to continue studying despite the odds.”
“I-Witness” host Sandra Aguinaldo, a Silver World medal winner for “Iskul Ko, No. 1,” tackled more or less the same issue: How impoverished schoolchildren persevere.
“The pupils of Sindangan Elementary School in Macrohon, Southern Leyte, are very diligent,” Aguinaldo said. “The school topped the national achievement test … [though] its library is really just a small room filled with donated textbooks …”
“I-Witness” co-host Howie Severino also won a silver, for “Huling Hala Bira” which documented the last town fiesta thrown by a Sta. Mesa squatter community facing demolition.
“It’s a simple story of how Filipinos remain upbeat in spite of poverty,” Severino said.
“Emergency” host Arnold Clavio cinched a bronze for “Mga Batang Nagsusunog,” about child labor, health and environmental issues.
He focused on three children―Zenki, Arbel and Rodel―from Payatas and Baseco, who melted copper retrieved from the garbage heap.
“They suffered from bronchial asthma, pneumonia and chemical poisoning,” Clavio said. “Zenki has caught tuberculosis. They have all stopped burning copper.”
Given by the United Nations Department of Public Information, Clavio’s award “honors TV programming that best exemplifies the aims and ideals of the UN.”
Jun Veneracion, also of “Reporter’s Notebook,” said his “Engkwentro,” which likewise fetched a bronze, showed a news team caught in the crossfire in war-torn Basilan. In the process, it also exposed “how ill-equipped our soldiers are against rebels.”
Veneracion was sure his docu “served as a wake-up call [for the government].” He recounted, “Our assistant cameraman, Donnie Roxas, was slightly wounded. And afterwards, the whole team had to undergo counseling.”
Said Valdellon: “This [multiple recognition from the NY Festivals] is a testament to the hard work of our Public Affairs teams, especially the off-cam staff, unsung producers, cameramen and crew.”
(E-mail: bayanisandiego@hotmail.com)
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