A Grade 11 student from St. Dominic College of Asia Senior High School recently placed third in the Philippine Basketball Association Press Corps sports writing contest at the Smart Araneta Coliseum.
Gillenne Gustine Garcia, a staff member of the official SDCA-SHS publication Dominican Vanguard, received 5,000 pesos and a certificate from PBA Commissioner Willie Marcial and members of the PBA Press Corps.
Aside from her feat, Garcia also became the only female winner in the contest, which was revived by the media group as part of the tilt’s 25th anniversary celebration.
The student journalist earlier bagged fourth place in sports writing (Filipino) at the 2019 Division Schools Press Conference in Bacoor, Cavite.
Ronald Allan Balderosa, SDCA-SHS Vice Principal for Student Affairs and journalism trainer, was all praises for Garcia. “She is actually an all-around journalist. She can shine in any category, but her favorite is really sports. When she writes, she really puts her heart into it. No wonder she really excels.”
Justin Mhar De Jesus and Eriell Estrada, both from Bulacan State University College of Arts and Letters and staff of Pacesetter student publication, scored a 1-2 finish out of 29 participants from various schools in Luzon and Metro Manila. De Jesus and Estrada bagged 10,000 and 7,000 pesos, respectively.
Meanwhile, Ron Jeric Faustino of Marcelo H. Del Pilar National High School’s The Republic wound up fourth, while Axell Swen Lumiguen of Polytechnic University of the Philippines-College of Communication’s official student publication The Communicator placed fifth.
For the first time, the PBA Press Corps also included a photography competition since it was launched in 1994.
De La Salle-College of Saint Benilde Multimedia Arts senior and former Benildean Press Corps photo editor Kyle Janrey Bustos topped the special category and got a cash prize of 10,000 pesos and a certificate.
John Edward Gaspar, also from The Republic of M.H. Del Pilar NHS, and Lucky Dela Rosa, photographer of UP Diliman’s Philippine Collegian, settled for second and third place, respectively.
Before the contest proper, Rappler senior desk officer and former Inquirer Libre editor in chief Chito Dela Vega conducted a talk on sports writing last November 24 and shared his experiences in the field.
SPIN.ph lead photographer and Sony Philippines ambassador Jerome Ascaño also discussed the basics of sports photography and gave some tips about composition, lighting and other related technical matters.
Philippine Star sports editor Nelson Beltran, Tempo sports editor Rey Virgilio Lachica, and Malaya assistant sports editor Noli Cortez judged the sports writing competition.
On the other hand, Ascaño, award-winning and veteran lensmen August Dela Cruz of the Philippine Daily Inquirer, and Ernie Sarmiento of ESPN5 selected the winners of the photo contest.
