Manila Bulletin tops 'Burgos'
awards for biotech journalism

By MARVYN N. BENANING

THE  Manila Bulletin won the top prize for the institutional category in the annual Jose G. Burgos Jr. Awards for Biotech Journalism.

Second prize went to the Business Mirror, while the Philippine Star took the third prize.

The awardees were honored last night at the IMAX Theater of the SM Mall of Asia in Pasay City.

In the news category, Paul Icamina of Malaya took the top prize for his “Pinoy savants developing flood-tolerant rice,” while Lyn Resurreccion of the Business Mirror won second prize for the story “China ‘Bt’ rice OKd to boost supply.”

Jennifer Ng, also of the Business Mirror, won third prize for “Bt eggplant farmers can hike yield per hectare by 317 percent.”

The board of judges gave a special citation to Helen Flores of the Philippine Star for writing “USM experts develop 6 new HYV corn varieties.”

For features, Lyn Resurreccion of Business Mirror got first prize for “Worm-free ‘talong,’” followed by Anjo C. Alimario, also of Business Mirror, for his “RP needs strong animal biotech program.”

Rudy Fernandez took the last prize for writing “GM corn production now a multi-billion-peso industry” for the Philippine Star.

The awards started in 2006 to honor the memory of Jose G. Burgos Jr., a press freedom icon and publisher of We Forum and Pahayagang Malaya.

Environment Secretary Ramon J. P. Paje keynoted the awards rites.

Dr. Edita T. Burgos will also launch the Jose G. Burgos Jr. Awards for Biotech Journalism Trust Fund and introduce the members of the board of judges for this year’s awards.

Agham Party-list Rep. Angelo T. Palmones will talk on how the board undertook the selection of contestants and the eventual winners.

Burgos, Palmones, Abraham Manalo, executive secretary of the Biotechnology Coalition of the Philippines (BCP), and Dr. Aida Adalla of the Biotechnology Program Office of the Department of Agriculture (DA) awarded the prizes.  (MB, 25 Nov 2010)