MANILA — Progressive media outfit Bulatlat was one of the finalists in the photography category of the 2016 Save the Children Media Awards.
Janess Ann J. Ellao’s photograph of a mother and her child taken after a violent demolition in sitio San Roque, Quezon City made it to the top ten. Titled “Without a roof,” a girl seems unfazed as she eats her lunch along a busy road right across where her family’s home once stood.
The awarding ceremonies were held Nov. 29 at the Bahay ng Alumni, University of the Philippines Diliman.
Ellao said her entry is “my humble contribution in portraying how children are greatly affected by supposed development projects that, in reality, deprive them of their basic right to shelter and their parents of their livelihood.” “It is in this light that we should see how the children’s plight — including their health and well-being — should be reported,” she said.
Sitio San Roque is a part of the Quezon City Central Business District, a joint venture between the National Housing Authority and Ayala Land. The 250-hectare project aims to develop the area into a prime property at the center of Quezon City through constructing commercial and residential units. It, however, currently serves as home to some 20,000 urban poor families.
Ellao said Bulatlat has always been at the forefront in providing a human face to the everyday struggles of many Filipinos.
Ellao has been covering the urban poor beat since she became a reporter at Bulatlat in 2009.
Rafael Lerma won the Most Outstanding Photograph with his entry “Hungry Kids” while Mark Baltazar Saludes’s “Food Securtiy: A Daily Struggle” won the People’s Choice Award in the same category.
Other finalists were Gil Cruz Jr., Migurel Antonio de Guzman, Corona Dolot, Alfredo Bullit Marquez, Jojo Rinoza, Dennis Sabangan and Business World.
Freelance writer Karen Rivera grabbed the Most Outstanding Article with her story highlighting the problem of malnutrition in an isolated and conflict-affected community in Lanao del Sur.
Bandila’s “Mga Kaso ng malnutrition, tumaas” won the Most Outstanding Special Feature while Investigative Documentaries’s “Extra Rice” was adjudged as Most Outstanding Short Film.
Reel Time’s full-length documentary “Sawat” was given a Special Citation.
The media awards is part of the Save the Children’s “Lahat Dapat” campaign, the group’s biggest campaign yet against child hunger and malnutrition.
Ned Olney, country director of Save the Children Philippines, thanked the journalists who joined the competition for their hard work and commitment in helping address hunger and malnutrition in the Philippines.
