UST journalism alumni bagged awards while The Varsitarian was named a finalist in the 21st Lasallian Scholarum Awards, the De La Salle University’s (DLSU) flagship program recognizing exemplary media coverage of youth and education stories, on March 17.
Journalism alumna Jocelyn Valle was awarded the outstanding published feature article on youth and education for her feature story, “Is homeschooling for you and your child?”
Published in the Philippine Daily Inquirer, her story tackled the Department of Education’s (DepEd) homeschooling initiative in 1997 and how it differs from the online learning setup as an alternative learning modality.
Valle is a journalist, writer, and editor formerly affiliated with SmartParenting and StarStudio.ph. She has also written for Lifestyle.INQ, Daily Tribune, and YES! Magazine.
Former Varsitarian Filipino editor Diana Cabalo, incumbent editor Frenchshield Delovieres, and Sofia Rosario were named finalists in the outstanding published feature article on youth and education in the school organization category for their work “Pag-alis sa ‘mother tongue education,’ banta sa katutubong wika.”
Their story explored the likely consequences of DepEd’s new “Matatag” curriculum, which discontinued Mother Tongue-Based Multilingual Education.
Delovieres said they wanted to bring recognition to how this move could contribute to the decline of regional languages in the Philippines.
“Too often, we treat language preservation as a ‘commemorative concern’ na napapag-usapan lang tuwing Buwan ng Wika. Writing stories about mother tongue and other languages helps us sustain the conversation, even as we move past the occasion,” she said.
Lian Buan, an investigative reporter at Rappler and UST journalism alumna, bagged the outstanding media personality award.
She was voted by Lasallian student media for advancing human rights and justice, and exposing government corruption.
After attaining a journalism degree from UST, Buan graduated with a master’s degree in human rights from Birkbeck College of the University of London.
She specializes in legal reporting and has reported extensively on prison conditions, anomalies in high-level procurements, and politics in the judiciary.
Several Artlets alumni were also named finalists in the competition, with journalism graduates Vince Ferreras and Giselle Ombay and communication alumna Sherylin Untalan being nominated under the outstanding online feature article on youth and education category.
Journalism alumnus John Patrick Magno Ranara received a distinction under the outstanding feature story on De La Salle University category.
The Board of Judges was composed of award-winning screenwriter, director, and DLSU University Fellow Clodualdo del Mundo, Jr.; Manunuri ng Pelikulang Pilipino Chair and DLSU Department of Literature faculty member Anne Frances Sangil; Academe Foundation Executive Director Sachie Reyes; National Youth Commission Commissioner at Large Michelle Mae Gonzales; journalist and UST journalism faculty member Christian Esguerra; and representing the student body, DLSU University Student Government President Lara Capps.
With the theme “EmpowerED,” the awarding night for the competition was held at the Verdure, Henry Sy Sr. Hall in the Manila campus of DLSU.
Established in 2004, Lasallian Scholarum Awards is a merit-based awards program that seeks to highlight the impact of stories across various media platforms and highlight the youth and education sectors.
