Bulatlat’s report titled “Children’s health at risk with low breastfeeding practice” was written by senior reporter Ronalyn V. Olea.
By JANESS ANN J. ELLAO
Bulatlat.com
MANILA – Progressive online news agency Bulatlat.com was one of the finalists in the first Save the Children Media Awards: Uncovering child hunger and malnutrition, Nov. 25, at the PETA Theater in Quezon City.
Bulatlat’s report titled “Children’s health at risk with low breastfeeding practice” was written by senior reporter and copy editor Ronalyn V. Olea. The report was published on August 26, 2015.
The report looked into the impact of low breastfeeding practice in the country, with over 16,000 child deaths in the Philippines, which could be traced to formula feeding. It also discussed the poor implementation of related laws and policies such as the Milk Code and the Republic Act 10028, or the Expanded Breastfeeding Promotion Act.
The shortlisted reports were published or aired within the last five years.
Apart from Olea’s report, other finalists for the article category are:
-Tess Bacalla, “Philippines: Over Decades, Child Poverty Hasn’t Changed Much” for IPS News
-George Moya, “Food Prostitutes, death by hunger and a feeding program” for Rappler
-Rina Jimenez-David, “Milk and Malnutrition after ‘Sendong’ ” for Philippine Daily Inquirer
-Rosa Mae de Guzman, “It takes a village to fight hunger” for Philippine Daily Inquirer
-Jodesz Gavilan, “Is the minimum wage enough for a day’s worth of nutritious meals?” for Rappler
-Iris Cecilia Gonzales, “The invisible war on poverty” for Philippine Star
-Cristina Lazo, “Amid soaring economy, UN execs urge PH to address widespread hunger” for Interaksyon
-David Bryan Lozada, “National survey: We have many malnourished children” for Rappler
-Fritzie Rodriguez, “Plenty of food, little nutrition in Benguet” for Rappler
Rodriguez’ report won most outstanding for the article category.
Meanwhile, below is the list of finalists for the photo category:
-Edwin Bacasmas, “Home, Street Home” for Philippine Daily Inquirer
-George Moya, “Stroke of Hope” for Rappler
-Remar Zamora, “Tulay” for ABSCBN News
-Richard Reyes, “Taggutom” for Philippine Daily Inquirer/Bandera
-Danny Boy Pata, “Hungry Children” for Manila Standard Today
-Fritzie Rodriguez, “Rice on the Lip” for Rappler
-Veejay Villafranca, “Silent Emergency: Battling severe malnutrition in Southern Philippines”
-Frances Mae Canda, “Mangaon Ta”
-Rita T. dela Cruz, “Bread of Life” for Project Pearls
-Luisa Therese Olarte, “Still Surviving”
Villafranca won most outstanding for the photo category.
The Save the Children also cited two outputs for the audio-visual category: GMA 7’s “Mga anak ng Pugadlawin,” and Rappler’s “We can stop hunger.”
The media awards is part of the Save the Children’s “Lahat Dapat” campaign, the group’s biggest campaign yet against child hunger and malnutrition. 
