SEVEN campus journalists emerge victorious among hundreds of entrants in the 11th UST National Campus Journalism Awards (UNCJA) organized by the Varsitarian.
Named Best In-Depth Report was “She Was Only 16. But She Was Able to Vote,” by Eunicito Barreno of the Philippine Collegian, the official student publication of the University of the Philippines (UP) Diliman.
The winning story tackled the erosion of democratic safeguards in Lanao del Sur, revealing how minors were illegally registered to vote and drawn into electoral fraud through family pressure, vote-buying, and institutional failures.
The report showed how election laws are bent to benefit political dynasties and how accountability breaks down at the local level.
The entry titled “Cash in, crash out” by Paul Bryan Bio and John David Parol of PUP Campus Journalists, an autonomous student publication at the Polytechnic University of the Philippines Manila, won Best Feature.
The winning story examined the hidden costs of online gambling through the experience of a young student whose pursuit of independence descends into loss and secrecy.
It showed how easy access, aggressive promotion, and weak safeguards draw young Filipinos into addiction, shifting the burden to families and communities while the state profits from gambling revenues.
The feature story “Someone’s son, Someone’s brother: Left-behind families of EJK victims,” by Ariana Enriquez and Alyanna Fabella of The Guidon, the official student publication of Ateneo de Manila University, received a Special Jury Citation.
The entry centered on families left behind by extrajudicial killings, documenting how grief, trauma, and the search for justice persist long after the violence. The story showed how loved ones confronted stigma and institutional failure while drawing strength from community support and collective remembrance.
The Editorial category was dominated by The Communicator, the official student publication of the Polytechnic University of the Philippines Manila College of Communication.
Arian Claire Galpao won Best Editorial for “Ballots, Handcuffs, and Nation’s Youngest Convicts,” which examines the policy debate on lowering the age of criminal responsibility. The editorial challenged punitive narratives and situated the issue within electoral accountability, highlighting how systemic failures placed the most vulnerable at risk.
Earies John Porcioncula received a Special Jury Citation for “Tanggalin and Pasanin o ang Kamalayan?” which critiqued proposals to remove key general education courses.
The winners were selected from nearly 200 entries submitted by 46 student publications nationwide and screened by the Varsitarian and the Journalism Studies Association of the Philippines.
Winning entries received a cash prize of P15,000, a plaque and a certificate, while publications that earned a Special Jury Citation were given P5,000 each and a certificate.
The panel of judges was composed of Philstar.com chief editor Camille Diola; OneNews.PH assistant editor and UP journalism faculty member Janvic Mateo; veteran political journalist and host of “Facts First” Christian Esguerra; religion reporter and UST journalism faculty member Paterno Esmaquel II; and Varsitarian assistant publications adviser and PressOne.PH fact-check lead Felipe Salvosa II.
“What stood out across the winning entries was a disciplined, deeply humane sense of social justice—one based on lived experience, held systems accountable, and showed how policy failures most sharply affected the youth and the vulnerable,” said Salvosa, former chair of the UST Department of Journalism.
The 11th UNCJA winners were announced during the fellowship night of the 27th Inkblots, the annual campus journalism fellowship organized by the Varsitarian, held on Jan. 14, 2026 at the Saint Pier Giorgio Frassati Auditorium.
