EU launches Peace Journalism Awards in Philippines

COTABATO CITY, Philippines — The Delegation of the European Union to the Philippines together with its partners launch for the first time the European Union Peace Journalism Awards on Friday.

EU Ambassador to the Philippines Guy Ledoux said the awards continues the long-standing support of the EU to the peace process and follows the signing of the Comprehensive Agreement on the Bangsamoro between the Philippine government and the Moro Islamic Liberation Front.

"The EU Peace Journalism Awards is a contribution to supporting the peace process and recognition of the role Philippine journalists can play in peace-building," Ledoux said.

LIVE UPDATES: European Union Peace Journalism Awards launch

Joining the EU Delegation in the EU Peace Journalism Awards Launch were Presidential Adviser for the Peace Process Secretary Teresita Quintos Deles and Bangsamoro Transition Commission Chair Mohagher Iqbal, whose organisations are collaborators for the Awards.

Representatives from the Centre for Humanitarian Dialogue, National Union of Journalists of the Philippines, Institute for War and Peace Reporting, Mindanao State University - Iligan Institute o f Technology, Konrad Adenauer Asian Center for Journalism Ateneo de Manila University, The Photojournalists' Center of the Philippines and Philstar.com also took part in the Journalism Awards.

The EU Peace Journalism Awards is a campaign which will run until May 2015.

The Journalism Awards are open to all Philippine journalists as well as campus journalists based in the country under the following categories: written text in print media, online and broadcast media, photojournalism, campus journalism and government advocacy peace projects.

The grand winner will go to Brussels, Belgium next year to meet with peace stakeholders and with fellow journalists, while finalists will receive special gift and certificates.

All the grand finalists will also participate in a public forum to be held next year.

Entries will be judged on the basis of the following criteria:

• Relevance to the topic - 30 percent
• News value/impact - 30 percent
• Investigative depth - 25 percent
• Professional quality and style - 15 percent