Bright Leaf Urges Laguna Media To Join Agri Journalism Awards

Philippine Information Agency IV-A

 

CALAMBA CITY, Laguna, May 28 (PIA) PMFTC, Inc., a joint-venture company between Philip Morris Philippines Manufacturing, Inc. and Fortune Tobacco Corporation, brings the Bright Leaf Caravan to Laguna and encouraged local media practitioners to compete in the 12th Bright Leaf Agriculture Journalism Awards.

As an agricultural company, PMFTC, Inc. holds Bright Leaf to recognize and honor relevant and outstanding agricultural news and feature stories that help raise the awareness and discourse on timely and critical agricultural developments, issues and gaps that needed to either be known or addressed.

There are eleven categories to which journalists may submit one entry each, as follows: (1) Agriculture Story of the Year, (2) Agriculture Photo of the Year, (3) Tobacco Story of the Year. (4) Tobacco Photo of the Year, (5) Best Television Program or Segment, (6) Best Radio Program or Segment, (7) Best Agriculture News Story-National, (8) Best Agriculture News Story-Regional, (9) Best Agriculture Feature Story-National, (10) Best Agriculture Feature Story-Regional, and (11) Best Online Story.

The Best Online Story, the newest category introduced during the program, shall be given to the best agriculture news or feature story that is published on an online news website.

Entries may be in English, Filipino, or any of the Philippine regional dialects; however, an English translation must be submitted along with the material that is not written in English.

Registration is free. The journalists and photographers who wish to join may submit their entries to more than one category but are not allowed to send more than one entry for each category.

The details of the mechanics for every category may be found by clicking the Contest Guide option in their website, www.brightleafawards.com.

Entries must be published, aired, or broadcast from September 1, 2017 to August 31, 2018. The deadline of submission is on September 1 of this year and it may be submitted via web, courier or email.

The winners who will be receiving cash prizes, iPads, and an all-expense-paid trip to an Asian country will be announced during the 2018 Bright Leaf Agriculture Journalism Awards in November.

The Best Agriculture Story of the Year will be bringing home P50,000 cash. Victors who would win for five consecutive years shall be bequeathed an Oriental Award.

At the launching of this year’s search, Josephine Costales, owner of the well-known organic farm Costales Nature Farm, talked about the success story of their farm and their best agricultural practices.

Department of Agriculture Region 4A (DA 4A) Regional Information Officer Patria Bulanhagui, on the other hand, discussed their Philippine Rural Development Project (PRDP) for CALABARZON region which concerns the farmers and the entire agricultural sector. (PIA4A)

DA CALABARZON Supports The Bright Leaf Awards Caravan In Laguna

Department of Agriculture

CALABARZON Regional Field Office

Written by Amylyn Rey-Castro

Photos, Taken by Bryan Arcilla and Jasp Daquigan

Aimed at promoting the so called agricultural development in the CALABARZON Region, the Department of Agriculture (DA) Region IV CALABARZON, through its Regional Agriculture and Fisheries Information Office (RAFIO), supported the 12th Bright Leaf Agriculture Journalism Awards caravan in the province of Laguna launched on May 24, 2018 at Hotel Marciano in Calamba City, Laguna.

The caravan, which was initiated by Philip Morris Philippines Manufacturing, Inc. and Fortune Tobacco Corp. (PMFTC), intends to encourage media practitioners in print, radio, and television who are based in the province to submit entries to the following categories: Agriculture Story of the Year, Agriculture Photo of the Year, Tobacco Story of the Year, Tobacco Photo of the Year, Best Television Program or Segment, Best Radio Program or Segment, Best Agriculture News Story-National, Best Agriculture News Story-Regional, Best Agriculture Feature Story-National, Best Agriculture Feature Story-Regional, and Best Online Story.

Along with this, Regional Information Officer Patria T. Bulanhagui and Agricultural Program Coordinating Officer (APCO)-Laguna Antonio C. Visitacion both shared with the attendees the various programs of the DA CALABARZON. And through a dialogue between them and the local media, they were able to discuss further the nitty-gritty of the latest programs of the department which focus on technology, mechanization, credit, and marketing, hence encouraged them to write and broadcast anything about agriculture in the region.

Josephine F. Costales, chairwoman and co-founder of Costales Nature Farm, also spoke at the event to present to them how their family invested into organic and sustainable farming in the province.

Likewise, details of the awards were discussed.

Bright Leaf Agriculture Journalism Awards honor and give due recognition to journalists and photographers who are behind the stories on the importance of agriculture in our everyday lives and pay tribute to the successes of the country’s farmers and fishers.

LAGUNA WELCOMES PMFTC AND THE BRIGHT LEAF CARAVAN

Laguna opens its doors to the Bright Leaf caravan, celebrating 12 years with the best and the brightest of agricultural journalism.

LAGUNA – For its next stop, PMFTC traveled with the Bright Leaf caravan to Laguna on May 24, 2018, bringing Laguna-based journalists face-to-face with the 12th Bright Leaf Agriculture Journalism Awards.

As an agricultural company, the Bright Leaf Awards is PMFTC’s way of honoring the most important and outstanding agricultural news stories that were able to raise the discourse of critical agriculture issues, and celebrating the best photographs that captured the spirit of Philippine agriculture in a single frame.

Speaking to the community during the event were Josie Costales of Costales Nature Farm, and Patria Bulanhagui, Regional Information Officer of the CALABARZON Regional Office of the Department of Agriculture. Ms. Costales, whose family invested deeply into organic and sustainable farming in the Laguna area, has been accredited with the Department of Agriculture, the Department of Agrarian Reform, and the Department of Tourism to develop local organic farming and farm tourism.

Ms. Bulanhagui on the other hand shared with the attendees the various programs of the Department of Agriculture in the CALABARZON region.

Together with the speakers, PMFTC supported the ongoing dialogue between agriculture journalists and agricultural businesses in discussing the future of Laguna’s agricultural sector. Through efforts like these, the Bright Leaf Awards has built a legacy of being the premier agriculture journalism competition in the country. From only 82 entries when it was first introduced in 2007, Bright Leaf currently receives hundreds of entries as the judges search for the best exemplars of agricultural journalism in 2018.

With the theme 12 Years of Bounty for the season, Bright Leaf invites journalists nationwide to submit entries to the following categories:

  •  Agriculture Story of the Year
  •  Agriculture Photo of the Year
  •  Tobacco Story of the Year
  •  Tobacco Photo of the Year
  •  Best Television Program or Segment
  •  Best Radio Program or Segment
  •  Best Agriculture News Story-National
  •  Best Agriculture News Story-Regional
  •  Best Agriculture Feature Story-National
  •  Best Agriculture Feature Story-Regional
  •  Best Online Story

This is the first time that the Best Online Story is included among the categories.

This special award will be given to the best agriculture news or feature story that is published on an online news website.

For more information about the Bright Leaf Agriculture Journalism Awards, you may contact the Bright Leaf Secretariat through their mobile numbers (0945) 477 2035 or (0929) 195 0620, their landline (02) 9755236, or send an email to secretariat@brightleafawards.com. You can also visit the Bright Leaf website at www.brightleafawards.com or its Facebook page www.facebook.com/brightleafawards/ to learn more information about the competition and past winners.