Cris Evert Lato-Ruffolo of the Philippine Daily Inquirer (PDI) Visayas Bureau grabbed the Reporter of the Year award for print in this year’s Globe Media Excellence Awards (GMEA).
Ruffolo’s story on Cebu-based drug users who opted to undergo a community-based rehabilitation program called Surrender to God (SuGod) was chosen for its content, style and social impact.
The same article was also part of a Cebu Daily News series on rehabilitation of drug surrenderers.
The first-time winner received a trophy and cash prize from Globe officials led by Yoly Crisanto, Globe’s senior vice president for corporate communications, during the awarding ceremonies on Thursday night held at the Radisson Blu hotel, Cebu City.
CDN columnist and lawyer Gloria Estenzo-Ramos was columnist of the year in the 6th GMEA for her column “Wrangling on Waste” which saw print on CDN on February 12, 2017.
CDN Assistant Vice President and Chief Sales and Marketing Officer Pia Jean Velasquez-Seno received Ramos’ award.
The 6th GMEA-Visayas honored outstanding work from print and broadcast journalists and social media influencers coming from Cebu, Bacolod and Iloilo.
Veteran broadcaster Mike Enriquez also graced the event to give a 15-minute message on the role of media in combating fake news.
“Trained journalists like you, trained journalists like us have the power to change the tide by extending our watchdog capabilities,” he said.
Other winners in this year’s GMEA are Amper Campaña (Sun.Star Cebu), Photojournalist of the Year; Cherry Ann Lim (Sun.Star Cebu), Investigative or Explanatory story for Print and Online category; Joel Franco (dyRI–Iloilo), Reporter of the Year for Radio; Serge Santillan and Jeony Bigay (RMN Iloilo), Public Affairs Story of the Year for Radio; Alan Domingo (GMA-7 Cebu), Reporter of the Year for TV; Reyn Niko Sereno (GMA-7 Cebu), Explanatory or Investigative Story of the Year for TV; Marianito Vito, Blogger of the Year; Sigrid Lo, Social Media Advocate of the Year and Social Media Campaign of the Year; Nickolas Tubo (Sunnex), Reporter of the Year for Online News Portal.