Awards held to remember Chit Estella

JOURNALISTS INA Alleco Silverio from  Bulatlat and Elizabeth Lolarga from the Philippine Daily Inquirer won the first  Chit Estella Journalism Awards held on Dec. 7, 2012 at the University of the Philippines Diliman. The awards theme was human rights.

Silverio won the award in the online media category for her report “Three months after Sendong, Iligan residents still far from rebuilding their lives” which was on how the reported outpouring  of donations to the disaster-hit area had not been felt by the suffering residents.

Silverio’s other report, “In Makati, the poor of Guatemala street know nothing about the city’s wealth,” was also a finalist in the said category.

Lolarga won the award in the print category for her report “356 political prisoners go on hunger strike“, which was about how political prisoners all over the country had gone on a hunger strike to protest their detention and make the Aquino administration recognize them and  order for their immediate freedom.

Silverio and Lolarga were each given a cash prize and a trophy. Silverio, however, was not present during the ceremony.

The other finalists were, for the online category: “Jonas Burgos, gentle and brave” by Ronalyn Olea, “Privatization of government hospitals, further marginalizing the poor in the name of profit” and “K + 12, worsening shortages to greet school opening” both by Anne Marxze Umil; and for the print category: “Kin of ‘desaparecidos’ keep up fight” by Tonette Orejas and “In Sulu, human rights work starts with letting the people know” by Julie Alipala.

Aside from the recognitions, the event included a lecture from former party-list representative Satur Ocampo.

Ocampo, also a columnist for a national daily, talked about his experience as a young reporter for the Manila Times  covering the police beat. He explained how the culture of impunity encourages violations of human rights.

An impromptu speech was also given by Commissioner Coco Quisumbing from the Commission on Human Rights (CHR).

Quisumbing explained how journalism is closely related to human rights, citing her roots in radio as a talent and in television as a reporter.

The event was topped by remarks from Chit Estella’s husband, Roland Simbulan, a professor from UP Manila.

Simbulan mentioned that they plan to schedule the awards to coincide annually with the International Human Rights Week, as ‘human rights’ was the advocacy of his late wife.

The awards ceremony was held in commemoration of the life of the Lourdes ‘Chit’ Estella-Simbulan.

Estella-Simbulan was with VERA Files, an investigative journalism outlet she co-founded in 2005, and was a member of the CMC faculty.

On the night of May 13, 2011, she died when the taxi she was in was hit by a speeding bus at Commonwealth Avenue, Quezon City. Simbulan was editor of PJR Reports from August 2005 to December 2007.