Pampanga News Now has been awarded as this year’s winner of the 1st ever Bayanihan Media Awards (BMA) Online Media – Organization Category for Best Volunteerism Reporting during ceremonies at the Century Park Hotel in Malate, Manila on Dec. 12, 2023.

The award, received by PNN managing editor Noel G. Tulabut, was handed over by Civil Service Commission chairperson Karlo Alexei B. Nograles, who is also National Volunteer Month chairman.

The Bayanihan Media Awards recognizes media practitioners and organizations who have significantly contributed to promoting and popularizing volunteerism and its importance to national development through their work, thus encouraging the public to make volunteerism a way of life, according to the Philippine National Volunteer Service Coordinating Agency (PNVSCA).

This is also in recognition of the media’s contribution in promoting good governance and ensuring sustainable development and nation-building by performing their role to educate and inform people.

PNN’s publication of stories on volunteerism reflects its commitment to promoting volunteerism as a way of life for every Filipino, the PNVSCA said.

The Awards Program is a partnership initiative of the PNVSCA, Philippine Information Agency (PIA), Philippine Association of State Universities and Colleges (PASUC), and Mariano Marcos State University (MMSU).

The Annual Bayanihan Media Awards featured four major categories, namely Best Volunteerism Reporting in Print – individual and organization; Best Volunteerism Reporting in Television – individual and TV Program; Best Volunteerism Reporting in Radio – individual and Radio Program and; Best Volunteerism Reporting in Online Media – individual and Online Media Organization/Agency.

Media works, which were published from August 2022 to July 2023, were evaluated by a Board of Judges composed of experts from the government, academe, and private sector who are both media-oriented and volunteerism advocates.

The Pampanga State Agricultural University nominated PNN, while necessary documents were provided by the PIA Central Luzon Office, which forwarded the screened nominees to their respective Regional Screening Committees designated by the Regional Development Council (RDC).

Regional winners selected by the RDCs were forwarded to the PNVSCA as national nominees for final deliberation.

“Volunteerism is part of the fabric of life of every Filipino – our Bayanihan spirit. Volunteerism also is one of the first things taught to us as children. We know from our history that Bayanihan goes back to the time of our forefathers, and it is heart-warming to note that Filipino values have endured despite the changing of times,” CSC chair Nograles said.