Reel Time wins the 2016 Asia-Pacific Child Rights Awards 

GMA News TV’s flagship documentary program Reel Time continues its winning streak as it earned the Grand Prize of the Asia-Pacific Child Rights Award for its documentary, “Written on the Water (Isinulat sa Tubig)”. Earlier this year, Reel Time also received international recognition for its documentaries from the New York Festivals, AIBD-World TV Awards, US International Film and Video Festivals, Monte Carlo-URTI Grand Prix for Authors Documentary, and Shanghai TV Festivals.

The Asia-Pacific Child Rights Award for Television by Asia Pacific Broadcasting Union (ABU), Cable and Satellite Broadcasting Association of Asia (CASBAA), and the United Nations Children's Fund (UNICEF), is the most prominent distinction in Asia and the Pacific that recognizes the efforts of broadcasters and producers in pursuing high quality children's programming and better coverage of issues affecting children.

Written on the Water competed against nine finalists from the region, including documentaries from Australia, Kazakhstan, Fiji, Singapore, China, and Vietnam. 

The award was given by Andrew Brown of UNICEF East Asia and Pacific Regional Office in a ceremony held in Bali, Indonesia on October 24, 2016.

"I was delighted and honoured to present the Child Rights Award 2016 to GMA for 'Written on the Water'," UNICEF Regional Communication Specialist Andrew Brown said. "It's a beautifully shot and emotionally told story of Filipino children's struggle to get to school. Most importantly, telling their story has led to real change. The children we saw making an arduous two hour mountain trek to school can now get there in 20 minutes by boat, transforming their lives for the better" said Brown.

Written on the Water, the eye-opening documentary about a group of children who cross a part of an ocean and trek up a mountain just to reach their schools, was written and directed by Executive Producer Jayson Bernard Santos.

“We are very much overwhelmed by Reel Time’s third recognition from the Asia-Pacific Child Rights Award. The documentary Written on the Water resulted in a collaboration among educators from Matnog in the Province of Sorsogon and viewers who sent donations after watching the documentary. The audience’s active participation in starting small but meaningful reforms in the education of the students is the best reward we received for this story,” said Santos.

For five years in a row, documentary programs from GMA Public Affairs have won the Asia-Pacific Child Rights Award. GMA News TV's Reel Time bagged three of these, while I-Witness and Front Row won in 2012 and 2014, respectively.

The team behind the award-winning documentary is composed of Program Manager Nowell Cuanang, Executive Producer-Director-Writer Jayson Santos, Researcher John Mychal Feraren, Production Administrator Jhoalyn Nieva, Videographers Enrico Gaa and Gibson Gordola, Assistant Videographers Daniel Peralta and Jeff Elazegui, Production Assistants Annalyn San Pedro and Diana Delgado, and Master Editor Emmanuel Payumo.