THE Volunteers Against Crime and Corruption (VACC) recently marked its 10th year of fighting crime and corruption by conferring awards on 11 organizations and 16 personalities, described as ?pillars of the criminal justice system.?

Awardees included the Philippine Daily Inquirer (?Newspaper of the Decade?) and reporter Fe Zamora (?News Reporter of the Year?). Fe and I have been working together since the Inquirer was still a tabloid, under Tita Eggie Apostol and editor in chief Letty Jimenez-Magsanoc?s leadership. We covered the rallies in the ?80s as a team.

VACC was founded in 1998 by Dante Jimenez, Lauro Vizconde, Martin Dino and Cory Quirino. It has been at the forefront of the crusade against criminality. The group understands what the victims and their relatives go through because they?ve been through the same experience:

Jimenez lost a brother in a senseless killing; Vizconde lost his wife and two daughters, and Quirino was kidnapped in Bicol in the ?90s.

The group?s other awardees: Persida Rueda-Acosta; Engr. Nelson Ramirez, and newsmen, Gus Abelgas of Channel 2 and Sam Nielsen of dzBB.

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