Journalist from Bacolod City council honors emmy winner

BACOLOD CITY , Philippines — The City Council here unanimously recently approved a resolution honoring Filipina journalist Henni Jay Espinosa, who is from this city, for winning an Emmy award in the United States last June.

Espinosa won the Emmy award as the host, executive producer and writer for The Filipino Champions of SOMA documentary, under the Public/Current/Community Affairs-Program/Special category.

It was the first Emmy award for ABS-CBN News and Current Affairs, as it was an important recognition in the television industry.

Espinosa, 35, is a multi-awarded senior reporter and substitute anchor of ABS-CBN International-The Filipino Channel's Balitang America, the only daily Filipino newscast in North America, the resolution authored by Councilor Sonya Verdeflor, read.

Her work, The Filipino Champions of SOMA, was the first full-length news documentary produced by a Filipino journalist for a Filipino-owned company. It featured three Filipinos in the South of the Market (SOMA) in San Francisco, California who did extraordinary things for the community.

It was aired worldwide through TFC last year, and was eventually featured on the Public Broadcasting Service (PBS), as part of its Asian-American Heritage Month observance.

The eldest child of Henry and Ninfa Espinosa, Henni was born and raised in Bacolod City. She finished her elementary and high school education at St. Scholastica's Academy-Bacolod, and her Bachelor of Arts in Broadcast Communication at the University of the Philippines-Diliman in 1999.

In 2000, Henni received a full scholarship from the Rotary Club of Georgia, through its Georgia Rotary Student Program, to take her Masters in Communication degree at Georgia State University in Atlanta, Georgia, USA.

The resolution further stated that, for giving a voice to the Filipino community through her stories, Henni was awarded the Jose Rizal Community Hero Award by the Northside Community Center in 2004. She was also given a certificate of recognition by the California Senate for receiving the award.

In 2011, Henni was given the Media Bayani Award by BAYAN-USA for her "bravery, integrity, and excellence in Journalism." That same year she was also chosen one of the 100 Most Influential Filipina Women in the U.S. by the Filipina Women's Network.  (FREEMAN)