Reporters from the Manila Bulletin and the Philippine Star dominated the awardees in the First Gawad Galing for Biotech Journalism.

Melody Aguiba of the Manila Bulletin bagged the first prize, Rocel Felix of the Philippine Star the second prize, and Rhodina Villanueva of the former Today received the third prize. The awardees received P50,000, P40,000 and P30,000 cash prizes, respectively, and plaques of recognition.

Finalists Romer Balaba of BusinessWorld, Rose de la Cruz of the Philippine Star, Carlos Marquez Jr. of Today, Sosimo Pablico of Agri Magazine, Angelo Samonte of Manila Times, and Romer Sarmiento of Today, received certificates.

Veteran journalists Zac Sarian of the Manila Bulletin and Rudy Fernandez of the Philippine Star were given special citations in recognition of their consistent commitment in popularizing biotechnology through their columns and articles. They were recipients of the Hall of Fame award from the Department of Science and Technology (DOST) Media Awards because of their having consistently won the award in the print category.

The Philippine Star won in the institutional category in recognition of its support in popularizing biotechnology by printing such stories.

Another article by Aguiba won as honorable mention. There were no winners in the best article and best photograph categories.

The winners were announced in the awarding last Oct. 24 at Club Filipino, Greenhills, San Juan.

The members of the Gawad Galing board of judges are Roderico Bioco, president of Philippine Maize Federation, Inc. and general manager of the Mindanao Grains Center in Malaybalay, Bukidnon; Dr. Virginia Enriquez, chief of the Research Technology Utilization and Information Division of the Philippine Council for Advanced Science and Technology Research and Development; Dr. Evelyn Mae Mendoza, a member-Academician of the National Academy of Science and Technology (NAST) Philippines and a research professor of Biochemistry at the Institute of Plant Breeding (IPB), College of Agriculture, University of the Philippines Los Baños; and Jose Pepito, president of the Nationwide Association of the Consumers Inc., Prof. Luis Teodoro, the chairman of the board of judges, is the former dean of the Department of Journalism at the UP College of Mass Communication.

The Gawad Galing for Biotech Journalism is led by the Biotechnology for Life Media and Advocacy Resource Center (BMARC) to help motivate and sustain the interest of national media practitioners in disseminating biotech information.

It is held in coordination with the Philippine Science Journalism Association (PSciJourn) and the Science and Technology Information Institute (STII) of the DOST.

BMARC is a consortium of the Department of Agriculture-Biotech Program, Philippine Council for Agriculture, Forestry and Natural resources and Development (PCARRD), Southeast Asian Regional Center for Graduate Study and Research in Agriculture (SEARCA) and the Biotechnology Coalition of the Philippines (BCP).