THE FLAME, the official student publication of the UST Faculty of Arts and Letters, emerged as the winner across all categories at the 10th UST National Campus Journalism Awards (UNCJA), making history as the first publication to bag all top prizes at the same time in the nationwide contest.
“From streets to sheets: Motorcycle drivers ride on sex work as they traverse hard times” by The Flame editor-in-chief Zoe Airabelle Aguinaldo, associate editor Joss Gabriel Oliveros, Jianzen Deananeas and Ma. Alyanna Selda was awarded best in-depth report. It zeroed in on motorcycle taxi drivers offering sexual services to passengers to make ends meet.
Former editor-in-chief Fatima Baduria and former managing editor Bless Aubrey Ogerio’s piece “Token directive, token statement,” which criticizes the Marcos administration’s decision not to declare the EDSA People Power Revolution anniversary as a national holiday in 2024, won the best editorial prize.
Selda’s work titled “Through sticks and strings: Pinoy puppeteers struggle to survive post-lockdown” emerged as one of the two winners in the feature category. The article tells the story of an Intramuros puppeteer and how he managed to survive during the pandemic.
Also taking home the best feature award are Eunhice Corpuz and Mark Vincent Durano of the FEU Advocate for their entry “From the middle to the orient: Olive trees resprout in ‘Little Gaza.’” The article delves into the conditions of Filipino-Palestinian refugees who run a food business in Quezon City called “Little Gaza.”
Based on earlier reports by UST official student publication The Varsitarian and winning publications, The Flame holds the distinction as the first campus publication to win in all the three categories in the same year since the competition was launched in 2015.
The winning entries received a P20,000-cash prize, trophy and certificate.
The Flame won its first-ever UNCJA award during the contest’s inaugural year for its in-depth report titled “UST Bargains Tuition and Other Fees Increase; Artlets Expect Improved Facilities, Instruction.”
Since 2015, the Artlets student publication has claimed a total of eight awards, six of them conferred in the past three years. The Flame is also the school publication with the highest number of UNCJA awards.
Special jury awardees
Meanwhile, The Benildean from the De La Salle College of Saint Benilde received a special jury citation for its in-depth report titled “Bridging the gap: Integration of PWD employees in the workplace.” The same award was also given to The Communicator from the Polytechnic University of the Philippines for its editorial piece, “Hustisyang nakaangkla sa mga naghaharing-uri.”
Recipients of the special jury citation in the feature category were Krisis (University of the Philippines Diliman Journalism Club) for “5 shots, one mother, and a newfound crusade: The odyssey of Nanette Castillo” and The GUIDON (Ateneo de Manila University) for “Tilling the land: Women farmers of Tayabas.”
Nearly 400 entries from more than 70 campus publications nationwide joined this year’s UNCJA.
The entries were evaluated based on their content (40%), structure (25%), relevance (20%) and grammar (15%).
This year’s roster of judges were Philstar Global editor-in-chief Camille Diola, OneNews.ph assistant editor-at-large and The Philippine Star correspondent Janvic Mateo, Pulitzer Prize winner and former Reuters correspondent Manuel Mogato, Asian Center for Journalism executive director and VERA Files co-founder Luz Rimban and seasoned journalist and literary writer Joel Pablo Salud.
The winning student publications were awarded on Sunday, Jan. 12, during the fellowship night of the 26th Inkblots at the Buenaventura Garcia Paredes, O.P. Building.
Organized by The Varsitarian, UNCJA recognizes outstanding articles that tackle local and national issues at the college and university-level publications in the country. F
