Profiles of the Pro Patria Journalism Awardees 2022

Alexander “Alex” R. Magno (Geopolitics)

Alexander R. Magno, popularly known as Professor Alex Magno, is a political scientist and academician in the Philippines. Magno earned a Bachelor of Arts in political science from the University of the Philippines Diliman in 1975. He also obtained a Certificate from the University of Poitiers in France in 1980; and a Master of Arts in political science from the University of the Philippines Diliman in 1981. Magno is a long-time faculty member at the Department of Political Science of the College of Social Sciences and Philosophy at the University of the Philippines Diliman. He has been the executive director of the University of the Philippines Third World Studies Center from 1994 to 1997. He also served as a consultant at the United Nations University from 1985 to 1988.

Magno is an editorial columnist in such national dailies as the Manila Standard, Abante, and The Philippine Star. He is a contributing columnist at the Asian Wall Street Journal and at the Gulfnews. He was the editor of the Nation in Crisis, a publication of the University of the Philippines, in 1984.

Iris Cecilia C. Gonzales, The Philippine Star (Business)

Iris writes about the intersection of business and politics in the Philippines in her column Eyes Wide Open, which appears every Monday, Wednesday and Friday in the Business section of the Philippine Star. She is also the editor of Property Report PH, the paper's property.

Joaquin “Quinito” M. Henson (Sports)

Joaquin (Quinito) M. Henson is well-known in media as a sports journalist and sports broadcaster. He writes a column A Sporting Chance in the Philippine Star newspaper five days a week, appears as an analyst for the Philippine Basketball Association on TV, produces online podcasts and is often invited to lecture on journalism, deliver leadership talks and host events. Quinito has been recognized for his excellence in journalism as the only sports columnist to be cited back-to-back by the Catholic Mass Media Awards, the only sports columnist to receive the Philippine Olympic Committee award for Olympism and the only sports columnist to be honored with the Sport-For-All award by the Philippine Olympic Committee and the Philippine Sports Commission. His works have been published in the US and UK. He has covered on site such events as the 2012 London and 2020 Tokyo Olympics, the FIBA World Championships in 2002, 2014 and 2019, the World Taekwondo Championships, Formula 1 racing, boxing title fights all over the world, the NBA Finals, the NBA All-Star Game, the Asian Games and the Southeast Asian Games. In 2019, he became the first and only Asian tapped by FIBA, the world federation of basketball, to broadcast the World Cup to a global audience on TV.

Quinito has lectured before students in schools from Tuguegarao to Koronadal, professionals for such institutions as Metrobank, PhilAm Life Insurance, HSBC and sports associations and members of organizations such as Rotary Clubs from Manila to Pampanga to Tarlac to Pangasinan. Quinito has been a graduation commencement speaker in Manila, Paniqui (Tarlac) and Naga.

Quinito's other side is his professional background in microfinance. For over 30 years, he was Managing Director of the Kaunlaran Kabuhayan Microcredit Corp., the Eduardo Cojuangco Foundation and Botika Sama Sama which is engaged in socialized dispensing of medicine. Quinito is now retired from microfinance and in 2017, was conferred the prestigious honor of Adopted Son of Tarlac by the provincial government for his socio-civic-economic contributions, only the fourth in history and the first in 20 years. He has lectured on microfinance before the United Nations in Geneva and Lyon, France and met with Nobel Prize winner Muhammad Yunus at the World Microcredit Summit in Washington D. C. Quinito played a key role in implementing two landmark projects in Tarlac—Project Free which provided scholarships for about 2,000 public school teachers in their Masteral and doctorate studies and Project Hope which provided scholarships in tech-voc skills courses and employment opportunities for close to 1,000 out-of-school youth. Before his involvement in microfinance, Quinito was Vice President of Bancom Development Corp. and Union Bank of the Philippines.

Quinito earned Liberal Arts and Commerce degrees, majors in Economics and East Asian Studies, cum laude, at La Salle and a Master's degree in Business at the Asian Institute of Management. He is married to the former Carmencita (Menchu) Genato with a daughter Cristina, son in law Mark Ngkaion and two grandsons Jose and Luis. Quinito is an avid squash player and a consultant with the La Salle seniors basketball team. He is a strong Catholic and a devoted family man.

Sandra Aguinaldo (TV Investigative Reporting)

Sandra Aguinaldo is a television news anchor journalist, writer and documentarian. She is best known as one of the news reporters of 24 Oras and one of the hosts of I-Witness. In 2015, Aguinaldo together with her co-hosts in I-Witness won as the Best Documentary Program Hosts during the 29th PMPC Star Awards for Television.

Aguinaldo is the only child of Felipe, her father who is an engineer, and Irene, her mother who died when she was four years old. She grew up in Angono, Rizal and she spent her childhood liking different kinds of art. She developed her writing skills in high school and decided to take up journalism at University of Santo Tomas (UST) where she graduated. In 1993, she became the editor-in-chief of The Flame, UST Faculty of Arts and Letters' official student journal. After Aguinaldo graduated from college, she became a copywriter at an advertising firm. In 1996, she entered the broadcast industry and was the head writer of Usapang Business, a television program of ABS-CBN. After a year, she went to print media and became the senior reporter of The Manila Times.

Eventually, she worked for GMA Network as news reporter for 24 Oras and Saksi. She also hosted I-Witness, a television documentary program of GMA Network. She initially joined I-Witness in 2006 when Vicky Morales took a leave of absence and she was a temporary replacement but eventually, she became a regular of the show.

Elpidio “Deo” M. Macalma (Broadcasting)

In the five decades since he joined the broadcasting industry in 1980, Deo Macalma has built a reputation for excellence in delivering the news, providing insightful analysis, battling government corruption, and championing the good of the Filipino masses—all that, and a witty, satirical sense of humor that engages listeners of all ages. Being among the most respected and beloved radio hosts in the industry, Macalma hosts Damdaming Bayan and Breaktime, two of the consistently top-rating programs on Philippine radio, where he communicates to government officials the deepest, and most pressing sentiments of Filipinos about current issues, controversies, and policies. In addition, Macalma is known for his humorous, intriguing blind items in the segment Espesyal na Balita, proving that the news can be both informative and entertaining.

Macalma is committed to provide a fair and balanced analysis of current events by explaining the many competing views about any controversy, and providing constructive criticism aimed at identifying solutions that improve the lives of Filipinos. Proof to his unparalleled dedication in delivering unbiased and factual news are the numerous awards and accolades under his name, including Best Public Affairs Host for both the 2017 and 2018 KBP Golden Dove Awards and Best Public Affairs Program Host at the 2018 PMAP Makatao Awards for Media Excellence, among others.

Jose Roberto “Roby” A. Alampay (Documentary)

Roby Alampay is the founder and chairman of Puma Public Productions, a first-mover in the Philippines and Southeast Asia in non-music audio productions. On the business and managerial side of the industry, Roby was raised in print and built up the online news portal for a broadcasting network (TV5), eventually rising to the rank of VP, while simultaneously helming under the same media conglomerate, as editor-in-chief, the Philippines’ oldest and biggest business daily (BusinessWorld) and charged with giving it a digital strategy, and help it get back in the black. Previously, he also anchored the nightly newscast ‘The Big Story’ on Bloomberg Philippines and co-anchored ‘The Chiefs’ on One News TV 5. At the end of 2019, he left all these executive corporate positions to focus on his own startup. Puma Public is a production company servicing news/media organizations, businesses, NGOs/CSOs, foundations, and even individuals looking to explore and expand their brands and content into streaming audio.

Roby’s career has always been in journalism, with values fully anchored on press freedom and media independence. He was the first executive director of the Southeast Asian Press Alliance (SEAPA) and currently serves as Regional Advisor for the Asia Program of International Media Support (IMS) in Copenhagen.

Clarissa Ward (International Award)

Clarissa Ward is CNN’s chief international correspondent. She has spent nearly two decades reporting from front lines in Syria, Iraq, Afghanistan, Egypt and Ukraine for CNN, ABC, CBS and Fox News. A recipient of multiple journalism recognitions including nine Emmy Awards, two George Foster Peabody Awards, two Alfred I. duPont-Columbia Awards, two Edward R. Murrow Awards and one George Polk Award, Ward is the author of ‘On All Fronts: The Education of a Journalist’ (Penguin Press), which details her singular career as a conflict reporter and how she has documented the violent remaking of the world from close range. Known for her in-depth investigations and high-profile assignments, Ward and her team were the first foreign journalists permitted to enter Myanmar nearly two months after a military coup in 2021. She has since reported from Afghanistan in the weeks leading up to and after the fall of Kabul and most recently from Ukraine, where she has spent more than 10 weeks this year covering the ongoing Russian invasion.

In late 2020 Ward led the two-time Emmy Award-winning investigation of Russian opposition leader Alexey Navalny’s poisoning, even confronting a suspected member of the elite Russian toxins team at his home outside Moscow. In 2019 her months-long, Emmy Award-winning investigation into Russia’s growing use of mercenaries – Putin’s Private Army – included the first on-camera interview with a former fighter for Wager, Russia’s most notorious private military contractor. After visiting a diamond mine with ties to a Russian oligarch in the Central African Republic, Ward and her team were followed and intimidated by a car full of Russians. After their reports came out, they were targeted by a Russian media propaganda campaign trying to discredit their reporting.

Ward has reported extensively in Syria since the start of the civil war in 2011, making multiple undercover assignments to the country. As one of the last Western reporters to visit rebel-held Aleppo, Ward was asked to address a UN Security Council meeting on the embattled Syrian city in 2016, stating “there are no winners in Aleppo.” She has conducted many interviews with world leaders like British Prime Minister Boris Johnson and Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov as well as former U.S. Secretary of State Hillary Clinton and former CIA Director and retired US Army Gen. David Petraeus. Ward graduated with distinction from Yale University, and in 2013 received an Honorary Doctor of Letters degree from Middlebury College in Vermont. She speaks fluent French and Italian, conversational Russian, Arabic and Spanish and basic Mandarin.

Atty. Emiliano “Emil” P. Jurado (Lifetime Achievement Award)

Born Emiliano P. Jurado, Jr. on September 15, 1927 in Dolores, Abra, he was married to Trinidad Kapunan Capistrano and has four (4) children. He graduated with honors from the Ateneo de Manila University in 1950 with a degree in Bachelor of Arts. In 1954, he graduated with a Bachelor of Laws from the Philippine Law School. He is a member of Philippine Bar, the Integrated Bar of the Philippines, a Lifetime Member of the National Press Club, Chairman Emeritus and Lifetime Member of Manila Overseas Press Club and Columnist at The Manila Standard. Presently he is Chairman Emeritus and Lifetime Member, Manila Overseas Press Club. In the past, he served as Director of Philippine National Oil Company and Eastern Telecommunications Philippines, Inc., Century Bank (California) and PNB International Investments Corporation. He also served as Chairman/President of Eastern Telecommunications Philippines Inc. and PATAS (Philippine Academy of Television Arts and Sciences). He was Chairman of the Board of Advisers – Philippines Inc. and Chairman, Editorial Board – Manila Standard. He was Founder/Chairman/President – KBP ( Kapisanan ng mga Brodkaster ng Pilipinas ), Founder & First President of KBP & PATAS. He was Public Affairs Manager (KBS) – Channels 2, 4, 9 & 13 (1972-1982), Senior Partner – Dizon Paculdo Jurado Vitug Law Offices, General Manager – GTV (1975-1982), Radio Commentator, Television Host (New Life, The Big Lead, Business with Pleasure, TV Debate on Life, Chronolog), Member, Media Advisory Council 1973, Business Editor & Columnist – Philippines Herald (1953-1965), Editorial Director & Columnist – Philippines Herald (1965-1972), Columnist – Philippine Daily Express, Consultant – GMA Channel 7, President – Manila Overseas Press Club (1972), Managing Editor – The Mindanao Cross (1950-1952), Professor – Ateneo de Manila, and a Professor at the Philippine Law School.

He has also received the following awards and citations: Certificate of Merit, National Press Club 1955; Best Television Commentator, Citizens Council for Mass Media 1957; Citation, National Press Club and Stanvac Award 1957; Best Radio Commentator, Citizens Council for Mass Media 1958; Diploma of Honor, IRCASP (Independent Radio-TV Commentators & Announcers Society of the Philippines) 1962; Best TV Commentator of the Year, CAT Awards, Citizens Council for Mass Media 1965; Special Citation, Citizens Council for Mass Media 1968; Citation, Citizens Council for Mass Media 1969; Katibayan ng Paghahalaga, KBP 1973; PATAS Sinig Award 1976; PATAS Sinig Award, Outstanding Public Affairs/Public Service Series “Chronolog” 1977; Golden Award, KBP, 1986; Life Membership Award, Manila Overseas Press Club 1991; Medal of Honor, University of Angeles 2003; Doctor of Humane Letters, honoris causa, Angeles University Foundation 2008, Golden Scroll of Recognition, National Press Club, 2009; and Journalism Award, Special Awardee of the Year, Rotary Club of Manila 2016.