A prestigious award-giving body recognized PhilRice for its communication initiatives and writers during the 2016 Binhi Awards held at the Makati Diamond Residences, March 22.
The Binhi Awards is an annual prestigious competition organized by the Philippine Agricultural Journalists Inc. (PAJ) in cooperation with the San Miguel Corporation to recognize the efforts of the country’s agriculture and environment journalists.
Sonny P. Pasiona, a writer of the PhilRice Development Communication Division, was declared as the Agricultural Journalist of the Year for his exemplary achievement in the field of agricultural journalism.
John Glen S. Sarol, also a writer and layout artist of the PhilRice DevCom Division, placed second in the same category while PhilRice’s multi-awarded photographer Jayson C. Berto was hailed as the Agricultural Photo Journalist of the Year.
Meanwhile, the #BROWN4good Challenge, a social media campaign initiated by the Department of Agriculture and PhilRice, was named Best Agricultural Information and Media Campaign of the Year. The campaign resulted in more than a million pesos worth of brown rice distributed to chosen charities nationwide through the participation of netizens.
Not only that, the PhilRice Magasin also bagged the Agricultural Magazine of the Year Award. The magazine features success stories of rice and rice-based farmers who have practiced various rice production technologies developed by the Institute. It also covers stories on agribusiness and relevant issues, such as climate change and trade liberalization.
This year’s Best Regional Agricultural Radio Program was also awarded to Maunlad na Agrikultura sa Nayon, a PhilRice’s program in partnership with Department of Agriculture – Region III. Experts from PhilRice served as resource speakers in the program who talked about technologies and relevant issues and developments on rice.
PhilRice’s agri journalists were among the 22 winners in 14 major and minor categories, who were thoroughly chosen by a five-man board of judges chaired by former agriculture secretary Dr. William D. Dar, who now serves as founding president of InangLupa Movement Incorporated.
“More than 100 journalists and institutions joined the contest composed of reporters and correspondents covering the departments of agriculture (DA), agrarian reform (DAR), and environment and natural resources (DENR) beats, and writers and editors of major publications in Metro Manila, Central and Southern Luzon, Visayas and Mindanao, and government agencies,” said Noel Reyes, Binhi Awards contest chair and PAJ vice president for internal affairs.
