7 INQUIRER.net writers among 19 Plaridel Awards nominees in US

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SAN FRANCISCO, California—Seven columnists and contributors of INQUIRER.net are among the 19 nominees for the 2012 Plaridel Awards, which recognizes the contribution of outstanding writers and publishers in the Filipino American community in the US.

They will be honored on October 4 in the first ever Plaridel Awards as the Philippine American Press Club, U.S.A. (PAPC) celebrates its 24^th anniversary at the Fort McKinley Restaurant in South San Francisco.

Ahead of the awards ceremonies, the PAPC announced the nomination of INQUIRER.net columnists Ted Laguatan and Elizabeth Horner, Inquirer Hollywood columnist Ruben Nepales and contributors Elton Lugay, Cristina Pastor, Emil Guillermo and Lydia Solis.

The other nominees are: Janet Nepales, Dennis Clemente, Mariano  Santos, Joseph Pimentel, Miko Santos, Cherie Querol Moreno, Dympha Calica-La Putt, Christiine “Nickee” V. De Leon Huld, Laurel FantauzzoRyan Macasero, Arnold Pedrigal, Jannelle So and Bradford Adkins.

With the Plaridel Awards, PAPC acknowledges and celebrates the contribution of outstanding writers and publishers in the Filipino American community, as they chronicle the lives and times of the community, promote their ethnicity, champion their causes and provide a venue where readers/listeners can voice their concerns, and ideas for the betterment of the society and the community at large.

The 2012 Plaridel Awards winners will receive a trophy in recognition for their outstanding journalism which saw print or broadcast through a Filipino American based media anywhere in the U.S. between June 1, 2011 thru May 31, 2012.

Awards will be given based on originality – fresh topic and or treatment of an old issue or unique perspective; execution – writing style, composition and pacing; and effort undertaken by the writer (research and interviews) to put substance to the article.

Categories for print and online articles include Outstanding Reportage (Investigative /In-Depth Story), Commentary or Editorial Essay; International Reporting; Entertainment, and Youth Voice. For Broadcast Television, and Radio it will for the best in Community Reporting. Last but not least, Photojournalism.

The name Plaridel was chosen in honor of Marcelo H. Del Pilar, a Filipino patriot, journalist and publisher who brought his craft and zeal as an expat in Europe in the late 1800s. He was a prolific writer who kept his constituents abreast with the goings on in their community as well as in their homeland.

In him PAPC has found a hero – a person to emulate and an inspiration to Filipino-American writers and publishers everywhere who continue in their journalistic aspirations and in service to their constituents in the new land they now call home.

PAPC is composed of the following publishers: INQUIRER.net, ABS-CBN International, Asian Journal, FilAm Star, Manila Mail, Filipino American Radio Network, Philippine News, Philippine Headlines, Philippines Today, Power ng Pinoy TV, and GMA representatives. Altogether there are over 50 Filipino American media nationwide.

Those interested to attend and meet the journalists who have been covering the Filipino American community  may contact Jojo Peralta at [email protected]. Tickets are at $35.