Marie Carisa “Cai” Ordinario, a veteran economic journalist and faculty member of the UST Department of Journalism, died on Nov. 17 after a bout with colon cancer. She was 45.
Her demise was reported by the daily newspaper BusinessMirror, where she had worked as a senior reporter.
Ordinario earned her bachelor’s degree in journalism from the University in 2002 after a remarkable stint as news editor of the Varsitarian, where her team covered labor issues and UST’s efforts to boost its academic profile.
In 2019, she finished her master’s degree in communication at the University of the Philippines, which hired her to teach business journalism.
She later returned to UST and handled professional courses in business and economic reporting, macroeconomic indicators, and media and society.
Ordinario began getting scoops early in her journalism career, breaking the big story on the financial woes of College Assurance Plan (CAP) for The Manila Times. She reported on how CAP had stopped paying the tuition of UST students who had availed themselves of pre-need educational plans.
An expert on agriculture policy and trade, Ordinario won multiple Agriculture Story of the Year plums, and was named Macroeconomy Reporter of the Year in 2008, 2015 to 2017, and from 2019 to 2021.
In 2024, she was conferred the National Economic and Development Authority’s Recognition Award for Outstanding Reporter.
She was also a recipient of the Hall of Fame Award at the 17th Bright Lead Agriculture Journalism Awards, following five consecutive wins from 2018 to 2023.
In 2022, Ordinario was elected president of the Economic Journalists Association of the Philippines (EJAP), an organization composed of reporters covering the economy and business beats.
Her cremated remains will be at Claret Church in Quezon City on Wednesday and Thursday.
