GMA News TV and GMA News Online Win Top Honors in the Department of Health's Media Awards

More than 100 media stories, composed of online and print articles, radio and television works were submitted to the Department of Health’s media recognition program dubbed Parangal sa mga Kwentong Kalusugan Pangkalahatan (Recognizing Stories on Universal Health Care).
 
Of these, the two best entries from each category - print, radio, television and online media - were selected as winners.   Both of the winners in the television category were from GMA News TV, the country’s leading news channel, while both of the winners in the online category were from GMA News Online.
 
GMA News TV’s Reel Time documentary "Silang Wala sa Mapa" featured a volunteer doctor who had spent 25 years working with the Blaan Tribe in the mountains of Sarangani.  GMA News TV’s Investigative Documentaries’ episode entitled “Nutrition” discussed why 2 out of 10 Filipinos are underweight, while 3 out of 10 are overweight … and how, in Metro Manila alone, obesity is present in 7% of the population.
 
GMA News Online took home the prizes in the online media category for Claire Delfin's reportage "More Than Half a Million Pinoy Kids Suffer from Severe Malnutrition" and Patricia Denise M. Chiu's Special Report "At Fabella Hospital, Moms are Human Incubators."
 
“By telling the stories of citizen’s struggles and little successes in life, our friends in the media will be powerful instruments in getting the message across,” said DOH Assistant Secretary Dr. Eric Tayag.
 
The stories underwent two layers of review including a preliminary judging, where 22 finalists were shortlisted and a final judging where a panel identified 10 winning stories.  Judges included members of the offices of Usec. Janette Garin and Dr. Israel Francis A. Pargas of PhilHealth while Cheche Lazaro from the Probe Media Foundation and Red Batario of the Center for Community Journalism & Development (CCJD) represented the media sector.