THE HEAD of the UST Creative Writing department and a Journalism alumna were among the winners during the 46th Catholic Mass Media Awards (CMMA) last Oct. 28.
Creative Writing department chair Assoc. Prof. Joselito delos Reyes won best inspirational religious song for “Ikaw Ay Pari,” a music project he co-wrote with Jaymar Capalaran and GPV Arsciwals OP, who also sang the piece.
Meanwhile, Thomasian alumna Llanesca Panti was awarded best news coverage as co-author of “A Constitution Named Freedom: The Interim Charter Under Cory Aquino,” which examined how the 1987 Constitution was enacted to restore democracy in the country following the ouster of the late dictator Ferdinand Marcos, Sr. in 1986.
Before becoming the head of the Creating Writing program in 2019, delos Reyes led the Literature department for two years. He has handled undergraduate courses on creative writing, fiction and literary research, as well as poetry workshops and seminar on new media at the graduate level.
The creative writing chair also works as an opinion contributor for various media outlets, namely Rappler, Philippines Graphic Magazine, Abante News and GMA News Online.
Panti’s award-winning work was published at GMA News Online, where she has been serving as its senior news producer since 2018. She was a reporter for The Manila Times from 2007 to 2018.
Meanwhile, former UST rector Fr. Rolando de la Rosa, O.P. finished as one of the finalists in the best opinion column category for his piece, “Through Untrue,” published at Manila Bulletin.
Kathleen De Villa, a Journalism alumna from batch 2013, was also among the finalists in the best news coverage category for her entry titled “Alive Because of the Lord: Pinoy Among Freed Hostages.”
The CMMA has been recognizing exceptional works in Catholic journalism and communications across the country since 1978. F — Christian Querol
(Editor’s note: Llanesca Panti’s starting year as GMA News Online senior news producer has been changed and corrected from 2024 to 2018.)
