10th Bright Leaf awards launched
SUN STAR CEBU
By : JUSTIN K. VESTIL
A MANILA-BASED award-giving body announced it is now accepting entries that showcase the country’s agricultural sector.
Now on its 10th year, the Bright Leaf Agriculture Journalism Awards aims to showcase the talents of up and coming journalists, especially those covering the country’s agriculture sector, said Monette Quiogue, a member of the Bright Leaf executive committee.
In a press conference in Cebu City yesterday, Quiogue said that for this year’s awards, Bright Leaf has launched a nationwide caravan to attract more journalists from various parts of the country to showcase their works.
Cebu is the eighth destination of the caravan. Quiogue said they visited Bohol, Naga City, Dagupan, Cagayan de Oro, Tuguegarao, Vigan and Batangas.
The awards include agriculture story of the year, agriculture photo of the year, tobacco story of the year, tobacco photo of the year and best television program or segment.
Other awards include best radio program or segment, best agriculture news story-national, best agriculture news story-regional, best agriculture feature story-national and best agriculture feature story-regional.
Since 2014, journalists from Sun.Star Cebu have been included in Bright Leaf award’s winners’ circle. Two years ago, Sun.Star Cebu staff reporter Flornisa Gitgano, with reporter Elias O. Baquero, won the Bright Leaf award for best regional agriculture news story.
Cherry Ann T. Lim, Sun.Star Cebu managing editor for features, won the best regional agriculture feature story award for her two-part report on sustainable pest control and agricultural practices.
Lim, along with former Sun.Star Cebu editor Liberty A. Pinili, also won the agriculture story of the year for 2014 for their three-part special report on the declining fish stocks in the Visayan Sea.
Last year, Lim bagged the best agriculture story of the year award for her story “Beyond the Fields,” an article which examines the conditions that lead children to work in sugarcane farms in Cebu.