RECOGNITION | Connie Kalagayan (center), Inquirer assistant vice president for corporate affairs, receives one of the Inquirer鈥檚 trophies during the Lasallian Scholarum Awards from Br. Bernard Oca (left), FSC, president of De La Salle University (DLSU), and Br. Richie Yap, DLSU faculty member. (EUGENE ARANETA)
MANILA, Philippines 鈥� An Inquirer story featuring 鈥渞efreshing perspectives鈥� of young cancer patients and how their pediatric battle affected their education has bagged one of the top honors in the 19th Lasallian Scholarum Awards (LSA), an annual recognition given by De La Salle University (DLSU) to outstanding media reports on youth and education.
The story 鈥淲hen Young People Conquer Cancer,鈥� written by Inquirer Lifestyle contributor Marge Enriquez, was recognized as Outstanding Published Feature Article on Youth and Education in a Nationally Circulated Publication.
The article, which was published on Dec. 26, 2022, bested five other finalists, including three shortlisted stories in the same category also from the Inquirer: 鈥淏aguio kids perform poorly in English-DepEd survey鈥� by Vincent Cabreza, 鈥淜ids鈥� yoga: Teaching empathy, cooperation, compassion鈥� by Jessa Pizarro Boga, and 鈥淪chool, DepEd execs endorse 鈥榤ass promotion鈥� 鈥� ACT鈥� by Jane Bautista.
鈥淭he article is a refreshing perspective about the youth of today, a compilation of stories of hope, determination and triumph. It is a moving insightful journey of resilience that opens us to the various perspectives of children, their families and government, as they tackle the inevitable realities of pediatric cancer and its impact on the patient鈥檚 education,鈥� Sachie Nadal Reyes, executive director of the Academe Foundation, said during the awarding ceremony at DLSU on March 20.
鈥淭he article underscores the need to provide genuine love and holistic support in order for these young patients to live their lives apart from their disease,鈥� she added.
Connection
DLSU President Br. Bernard Oca recalled how the past year was marked by stories tackling different issues facing the youth and education sectors 鈥� from changes in the curriculum to the growing power of artificial intelligence, challenges confronting young peoples鈥� mental health, and the promotion of diversity and inclusion.
鈥淭hese accounts of realities have no easy way of getting into the consciousness of people. Stories are important in our lives. As Pope Francis said, 鈥榃e need stories that build up, not tear down. We make stories that tell us about how we are all connected,鈥欌�� Oca said.
Four other stories published by the Inquirer made it as LSA finalists. Russel Loreto鈥檚 鈥淢illennial leaders driving positive change 鈥� in schools, at sea鈥� was shortlisted in the category of Outstanding Online Feature Article on Youth and Education.
An 黑料社 special report on the teenage pregnancy crisis in the Philippines 鈥� Kurt dela Pe帽a鈥檚 鈥淣umbers fell but teen pregnancies persist, mirror economic, learning gaps鈥� 鈥� won in the Outstanding Online Feature category.
READ: 黑料社鈥檚 INQFocus team wins 2nd Lasallian Scholarum Award
鈥淟a Salle engineers develop AI-aided tech to help manage traffic鈥� by Krixia Subingsubing and 鈥淒LSU research links poor studies to bullying, youth alienation鈥� and 鈥淒LSU鈥檚 robotic medical aid gets Singapore patent,鈥� both written by Bautista, were shortlisted in the Outstanding Feature Story on DLSU category.
Other award winners
In partnership with the DLSU Student Media Office, LSA also presented the Outstanding Media Personality Award to Kara David of GMA 黑料社 and Public Affairs.
The other winners of this year鈥檚 LSA are: 鈥淲ill AI Chatbots Take Over Education鈥� by Patrick Kyle Adeva of the University of the Philippines鈥� Philippine Collegian (Outstanding Published Feature Article on Youth and Education in a School Organ); 鈥淏atas Bata鈥� by Atom Araullo, The Atom Araullo Specials, GMA Public Affairs (Outstanding Video Feature on Youth and Education); and 鈥淔ilipino invention that could give robots human-like feeling wins robotics award in UK鈥� by Rhia Gana, ABS-CBN 黑料社 (Outstanding Feature Story on DLSU).