Two Filipinos will receive the 2011 Titus Brandsma Award Philippines on Monday — GMA anchor and documentarist Kara David and Professor Asuncion David-Maramba.

David will receive the Titus Brandsma Award for Leadership in Journalism while Maramba is being recognized for Leadership in Communication and Literature.

According to the Order of Carmelites who organize the biennial awards, these are given to media practitioners who:

demonstrate effective use of media as a means to present real issues;

represent the “truthful media" and stand for freedom of the press;

take the initiative to empower its readers/listeners; and

are people of integrity and principles.

The nomination for David cites her mission which "has always been to use the mass media as a vehicle to cultivate solidarity, to deepen the capacity to empathize with the powerless, the oppressed, and the hopeless."

As host-writer of I-Witness, OFW Diaries, Case Unclosed, and other programs, David has won numerous awards, both local and international. Last year, she was honored as one of The Outstanding Women in the Nation's Service. She currently co-anchors News To Go on GMA News TV.

For Maramba, the nomination praises her "courage in extolling the heroism of those who opposed the Marcos dictatorship by conceptualizing and editing three landmark books" and for "opening minds and speaking up in the midst of deafening silence, and for underscoring the urgency for critical thinking."

“The media industry offers us outstanding Filipino journalists who are committed to truth, integrity and social justice. In today’s communication-driven society, these individuals can be our modern day heroes, inspirations and models especially to the youth," says Rev. Fr. Christian Buenafe, OCarm, commissary general of Philippine Carmel and media educator, in a press release.

The Titus Brandsma Award Philippines is the local version of the international Titus Brandsma Award, which is given by the Dutch Carmelites, the Dutch Bishops' Conference, and the International Catholics Organisation of the Media.

Instituted in memory of Blessed Titus Brandsma, the award honors journalists, publishers, professors of communication, publications or institutes who have suffered threats or persecution because of their engagement in the media on behalf of an important human or Christian issue.

The award also recognizes initiatives for promoting dialogue and human dignity through the media.

Titus Brandsma was a Carmelite priest, journalist, educator and mystic.

During the Second World War, he fought for press freedom by refusing to print fascist propaganda in Catholic papers.

He was imprisoned and executed by lethal injection in Dachau in 1942. He was beatified by Pope John Paul II on Novermber 3, 1985, and is known as a "Martyr of Press Freedom."

The awardees will receive a trophy sculpture of Blessed Titus Brandsma by National Artist Napoleon Abueva, a certificate, and a cash gift during the awarding ceremony at the Titus Brandsma Center in Quezon City.

Dr. Florangel Rosario-Braid heads this year's jury, with members Dr. Renato Mabunga, Prof. Anthony Roman, Carolina “Bobbie" Malay, Fr. Stephen Cuyos, MSC, and Fr. Bernard Roosendaal, O.Carm.

David and Maramba join past Titus Brandsma awardees Conrado de Quiros, Luchi Cruz-Valdes, Carolyn Arguillas, ZOTO-Tondo, Patricia Evangelista, and GMA News Online Editor-in-Chief Howie Severino. The award was also given posthumously to freedom fighters Marlene Esperat and Edgar Damalerio. - VVP, GMA News