GMA News Online's butanding story wins 3rd place in travel writing contest

Her encounter with the butanding may have been fleeting, but GMA News Online’s Carmela Lapeña says it stays with you.   “It’s the sort of thing you can do over and over,” she quoted a friend as saying in “A dreamy butanding in Donsol,”  a travel story which placed third in the “Basta Pinas Write Your Own Ticket Contest.”   The award was given based on the theme “Philippines through a fresh perspective” — a part of the Basta Pinas Travel Advocacy campaign to encourage Filipinos to visit local tourist spots.   The campaign is spearheaded by the Department of Tourism and the medicine brand Bonamine.   The others who won the contest in the print/online category are "Light at the Edge of the World" by Rhoda Rentoria of Travelife Magazine (1st place) and "A Tale of an Afuera in Azucarera" by Lutchie Ann Coral of Manila Bulletin   In the TV/radio category, the winners include "AutoReview Special Feature: Isuzu D-Max drive to Mt. Pulag Part 3" by Ron de los Reyes of NBN 4 (1st  place) and "Mt. Province Escapade by Roy Briones of Studio 23 (2nd place). Travel articles that qualified for the contest were those published from March 22 to June 30. — VS/HS, GMA News