PASAY CITY Multi-awarded reporter Ian Ocampo Flora was formally inducted into the Hall of Fame of the Bright Leaf Journalism awards, as he was presented with the Oriental Leaf Award in ceremonies held at Fairmont Hotel here.
Flora is the first Kapampangan to be part of the elite Bright Leaf Hall of Fame.
Dave Gomez, corporate communications manager of PMFTC, formally presented Flora with the award.
Flora is also a five-time winner of the Bright Leaf Agriculture Journalism Awards. He won in the 7th Bright Leaf Journalism Awards 2013 for Best Agriculture Feature Story and Tobacco Story of the Year in 2015, 2016, 2017 and 2018, respectively. Flora’s articles dealt with issues on adaptive climate change initiatives and the tobacco industry.
In 2018, Flora was the first regional winner of the Bantog: The Science for the People Media Awards given by the Department of Science and Technology-Science and Technology Information Institute (DOST-STII).
Flora also bagged two of the major awards in the Philippine Agricultural Journalists-San Miguel Corp. (PAJSMC) “Binhi” Awards held at the Makati Diamond Residences in 2019.
Flora won first place in both categories of Environment Journalist of the Year and first place for Agribeat Reporter of the Year. Flora’s body of works in the said categories includes compelling articles on environmental conservation, as well as community news on agriculture, climate change and fisheries.
Flora also won the Climate Change Story of the Year for his story “Economic losses and lesser yield: Agriculture sector faces greatest impact from climate change,” which detailed the economic impact of climate change in the agriculture and business sector of Region III.
In 2018, Flora was awarded second place for Environment Journalist of the Year and third place for Agricultural Journalist of the Year by the Binhi Awards. Flora was recognized for his articles in the field of environment, agriculture and climate change in 2017.
Flora also won the Best Agri Story of the Year for his article “Water Crisis by 2025: Pampanga groundwater source in danger.” The article discussed the looming water problem in Central Luzon.
Flora covers the science and technology, agriculture, culture and arts, and provincial politics in Pampanga. He is also SunStar Pampanga’s resident society columnist.