A JOURNALISM instructor has been inducted into the Hall of Fame by the Bright Leaf Agriculture Journalism Awards after five consecutive wins for her stories on macroeconomic issues.
Thomasian journalist Marie Carisa Ordinario received the Oriental Leaf Award, which is given to agriculture journalists who have won a total of five Bright Leaf awards in any category, on Thursday, Nov. 14.
Ordinario was a recipient of multiple Bright Leaf awards in the last five years, with her latest prize being Best Feature Story of the Year for her co-written work titled “Skyrocketing Sugar prices stroke industry liberalization stakes” published at BusinessMirror in 2023.
Ordinario graduated with a Journalism degree in UST in 2002, where she would later teach undergraduate courses in business and economic reporting, macroeconomic indicators and media and society.
She earned her master’s degree in communication at the University of the Philippines in 2019. Since 2013, she has been a reporter for BusinessMirror.
The journalism instructor also served as president of the Economic Journalists Association of the Philippines (EJAP) and a member of research organizations Journalism Studies Consortium and Journalism Studies Association of the Philippines.
Ordinario has been recognized for her extensive coverage of the macroeconomics beat throughout her journalism career, earning the Macroeconomy and Finance Reporter of the Year in 2007 and Macroeconomy Reporter of the Year for five intermittent years.
She also received the Best Online News Report and Best Statistical Reporting in Print Media awards from the Philippine Statistics Authority in 2013 and 2021, respectively. Among her other awards are Rice Story of the Year at the Binhi Awards and EJAP Feature Story of the Year in 2021.
Ordinario is the second Thomasian who clinched the Hall of Famer title after Journalism instructor and The Philippine Star reporter Jasper Emmanuel Arcalas, who was inducted in 2021. BusinessMirror is also the lone news outlet with three Hall of Famers, including Ordinario.
The Bright Leaf Awards honors notable and relevant agriculture pieces in print, radio, television and online media. It was established by cigarette manufacturer Philip Morris Philippines Manufacturing Inc. (PMPMI) in 2007 and was later continued by Phillip Morris Fortune Tobacco Company Joint Venture, a business partnership between PMPMI and Fortune Tobacco Corporation, in 2010. F — Rovy Jilyn Fraginal