PDI reaps 5 top awards in business journalism

MANILA, Philippines—The Philippine Daily Inquirer won top honors at the 23rd Business Journalism Awards of the Economic Journalists Association of the Philippines (Ejap) this year, besting business reporters from other print and online news organizations in the country.

The Inquirer’s business news team took home five trophies, including one for the Business News Source of the Year, which is awarded to the news organization whose reporters have won the most number of “Reporter of the Year” awards for the eight sectors that make up the business and economic news beats.

This is the third time that the Inquirer has been cited as the country’s top business news organization.

Doris Dumlao led the victorious Inquirer staff, taking the Reporter of the Year prize for her coverage of the capital markets and the corporate sector.

Dumlao is the Inquirer business section’s most senior reporter, and has won recognition for her journalism both here and abroad.

Young Global Leader

She is a member of the World Economic Forum’s Young Global Leaders for the class of 2014, Asia Society’s Asia 21 summit in 2011, and was named by Google one of the 20 most influential Filipino women in 2011, based on online queries.

Dumlao is a 1994 political science graduate of the University of the Philippines, and has been with the Inquirer since 1997.

This is her 13th award from the Ejap, the umbrella organization for the country’s business journalists.

The Inquirer’s Amy Remo was named the Reporter of the Year for the trade and industry beat.

Remo, a graduate of Ateneo de Manila University, joined the Inquirer in 2001. She has also covered the energy and agriculture beats. This is her fourth citation from the Ejap.

Also recognized was Inquirer’s Ronnel Domingo who was named Reporter of the Year for his coverage of the agriculture beat.

Domingo is a University of the Philippines graduate who joined the Inquirer in 2000, covering the trade and industry, energy and finance beats. This is his second award from the Ejap.

Rounding out the roster of winners from the Inquirer was Daxim Lucas who won the Feature Story of the Year award. Lucas’ award-winning piece was a two-part special report published last year that exposed the billions of pesos lost in the collection of excise taxes on tobacco products and the ensuing investigation of a local cigarette manufacturing firm.

Lucas is a 1994 graduate of Ateneo de Manila University and has won recognition from the Ejap seven times, twice as Reporter of the Year for banking and six times for stories of the year.

The Inquirer’s business news team is led by business editor Raul Marcelo and assistant business news editor Ma. Socorro Narisma; business features editor Tina Arceo-Dumlao and desk editor Eric Olona, editorial assistant Princess Daisy Ominga; and reporters Riza Olchondra, Paolo Montecillo, Miguel Camus and Ben de Vera.

Other Reporter of the Year winners were Zinnia de la Peña of the Philippine Star for her coverage of fiscal policy; Jimmy Calapati of Malaya Business Insight for banking; Angela Lorraine Celis of Malaya Business Insight for macroeconomy; and double winner Lenie Lectura of the Business Mirror for her coverage of the telecommunications and energy beats; and Siegfrid Alegado (who is now with Bloomberg News) for his online reporting for GMA News Online.

The winners were selected based on their submissions by a panel of judges led by former finance undersecretary, now Synergeia Foundation president Milwida Guevara. The annual Ejap Awards are sponsored by Globe Telecom.

 
RELATED STORIES

Gov’t probes P4.4B in cigarette tax losses

Inquirer named ‘Best Business News Source’ again