GMA News and Public Affairs celebrates GMA Network's 60th anniversary with historic milestones achieved in the first half of 2010.
Last May, the Kapuso Network was recognized by the George Foster Peabody Awards—one the most prestigious awards in electronic media—for the I-Witness episode "Ambulansiyang de Paa." The late-night documentary program is among the 36 critically-acclaimed programs all over the world that were chosen to receive the honor.
"Ambulansiyang de Paa" documented the harrowing journey of the sick and injured from a poor Mangyan town in Oriental Mindoro to a distant hospital. The Peabody Awards site describes the winning episode: "Condemning deplorable conditions while celebrating neighborly valor and ingenuity, the report shows how people in a poor village carry their sick and injured over dangerous terrain to distant medical care using 'ambulances on foot.'"
I-Witness host Kara David says of this achievement, "Malaking karangalan ang manalo ng Peabody Award pero lagi kong sinasabi na the greatest honor any journalist can ever get ay yung magkaroon ng pagbabago sa komunidad na iyong na-feature. Kaya naman hanggang ngayon we are still in touch with the Mangyans of Mindoro and working on projects to help the community. Yun sa palagay ko ang tunay na journalism. When you go beyond just reporting and become an instrument for change. In GMA, we call it Serbisyong Totoo."
This is the second time that the Kapuso Network—the only news and public affairs organization in the country to win the prestigious award—was recognized by the Peabody Awards, which is now on its 69th year. In 1999, the documentaries "Kidneys for Sale" and "Kamao" by Jessica Soho and her I-Witness team and Jay Taruc's child labor story on the defunct magazine show Brigada Siete brought home the country's first ever Peabody.
GMA-7 also recently won another international honor when its documentary, Planet Philippines, clinched the Bronze World Medal for Environment and Ecology at the 2010 New York Festivals Television and Film Awards.
"Our film was not about poverty or armed conflict or calamity. Instead it highlighted the uniqueness and the wealth of our natural resources," says Program Manager Ella Evangelista-Martelino. "We are grateful we got to show the world another side of the Philippines; this recognition from peers from across the globe is but a sweet bonus."
Case Unclosed and News on Q also from GMA News and Public Affairs, were also given Finalist Certificates in this year's New York Festivals.
The Kapuso Network's Eleksyon 2010 provided comprehensive coverage from all over the Philippines and up-to-the-minute tally during the country's first-ever automated polls last May.
GMA News and Public Affairs also presented several election programs and specials to further help the voting public come Election Day namely "Tatakbo Ka Ba?," the Presidential and Vice-Presidential editions of "Isang Tanong," "Kandidato," "Biyaheng Totoo," "Votebook" series, "May Magagawa Tayo" vignettes, "Leksyon sa Eleksyon" infomercials, and the voters' education campaign jingle "Bilog na Hugis Itlog."