From its humble beginning 11 years ago, EDGE Davao has come a long, long way. Starting as a local business weekly publication for the Davao Region, this community newspaper has ventured full scale with a coverage of everything that shaped the island Mindanao. After all, businesses are not the only thing that matter but also events, newsmakers, and history.
The brainchild of Editor-in-Chief Antonio M. Ajero and General Manager Olivia D. Velasco, EDGE Davao has blossomed to become one of the country’s most respected community newspapers. From its crispy news reports to engaging features, from its thought-provoking columns to dazzling lifestyle stories, the local paper has it all.
It is no wonder why the Rotary Club of Manila Journalism Awards recognized EDGE Davao last year as the Regional Newspaper of the Year. Launched in 1966, the awards was organized to honor outstanding contributions of individuals in the tri-media (print, television and radio) thus encouraging the proper development of Philippine Journalism. It stopped giving awards in 1972 but restored it in 1986.
“The Rotary Club of Manila Journalism Awards has become an immortalized icon in the recognition of the Fourth Estate as a bastion of democracy in the archipelago,” it explained in its website. “The importance of a free press and its role in the shaping of a nation cannot be completely undermined.”
The RCM Award was not the first. Before that, EDGE Davao has also garnered a total of 11 awards from the Civic Journalism Community Press Awards given annually by the Philippine Press Institute.
In 2010, EDGE Davao received two awards in the weekly category: Best in Science and Environmental Reporting and Best in Business and Economic Reporting.
Only three years old at that time, the paper topped nearly 200 weekly papers of the country in science and environment reporting for presenting a “holistic approach to the reporting of science and technology coupled with environment. It presents many feature articles and news features on health, science, technology and environment. It is easy to read and grammatically correct and well-written.”
The RCM Award was not the first. Before that, EDGE Davao has also garnered a total of 11 awards from the Civic Journalism Community Press Awards given annually by the Philippine Press Institute.
In 2010, EDGE Davao received two awards in the weekly category: Best in Science and Environmental Reporting and Best in Business and Economic Reporting.
Only three years old at that time, the paper topped nearly 200 weekly papers of the country in science and environment reporting for presenting a “holistic approach to the reporting of science and technology coupled with environment. It presents many feature articles and news features on health, science, technology and environment. It is easy to read and grammatically correct and well-written.”
As for the second award, the jurors’ agreed the “coverage of news on the economy and business and trade” of the paper “has more impact on the business community of the region.” It also recognized its two sections: “Agritrends” and “Entrepreneurs.”
In 2012, when EDGE Davao became a daily, it was adjudged Best in Science and Environment Reporting “for having a dedicated science and environment section.” The citation reads further: “The paper is outstanding for regularly publishing S and T articles that appeal to majority of its readers” and that it “publishes articles that tackle topics in easy to understand manner and written using popular language.”
EDGE Davao “also gives attention to science news from various parts of the world thus promoting a global mindset and keeping its readers updated on emerging and ongoing issues and developments in the fields of science and environment.”
In 2014, Edge Davao was chosen as the Best Edited Community Newspaper in the daily category. The paper was cited for “allowing the readers to arrive with a stand, succeeded in manifesting the conviction of the community members while embodying transparency and excellence in delivering the news to the community.”
EDGE Davao received two more awards: Best in Environmental Reporting and Best in Culture, Arts and History Reporting. E
EDGE Davao accomplished the same feat in 2017, winning three on its four nominations: Best Edited Community Newspaper, Best in Environmental Reporting, and Best in Photojournalism. It was also a finalist in Editorial Page.
EDGE Davao has also been a sort of an instrument in winning this author several trophies from various award-giving bodies.
In 2015, a year after I joined EDGE Davao, I got two awards from the Globe Media Excellence Awards (GMEA) for my features that appeared in the paper. I was cited as Best Reporter in Print for my story on Acquired Immune Deficiency Syndrome (AIDS). My two-part series on Davao City (Then and Now) was judged as Best Investigative Report in Print.
Also that year, the Philip Morris Fortune Tobacco Corporation bestowed me my second Bright Leaf Agriculture Journalism Award (Best Agriculture Feature Story-Regional) for my three-part series on possible solutions for forthcoming food crisis that was serialized in EDGE Davao. food security from. (The previous year, I won the same award but for my national feature story on pig raising, which appeared in Marid Agribusiness Magazine.)
In 2016, the GMEA again recognized my three-part series on the dwindling fishery resources (“Where have all our fish gone?”). The online version of the series was chosen as Best Online Report.
My story on soil erosion (“Topsoil: Going, going, gone?”) was chosen by the Philippine Agricultural Journalists, Inc. as Environment Story of the Year, thus winning my third Binhi Award.
In 2017, I got two major Binhi Awards: Agricultural Journalist of the Year (third place) and Environmental Journalist of the Year (third place). The PAJ cited my stories that appeared in the pages of EDGE Davao.
Last year, I got two more Binhi Awards: third in agricultural reporting and my piece on climate change (which was published by Philippines Graphic) was chosen as Best Climate Change Story.
In October, I flew to the United States and while there, I got a good news that I was one of the winners of the Bright Leaf Agriculture Journalism Awards. I asked our editor, Mr. Ajero, to receive the award on my behalf.
I really didn’t know which category I won. It wasn’t until a day after the awarding that I learned. “A five-part in-depth discussion about rice took home the top prize at the 12th Bright Leaf Agriculture Journalism Awards Night,” the press release stated. “Henrylito Tacio of EDGE Davao brought home the Agriculture Story of the Year Award for his series, ‘The grass that feeds Filipinos.’”
American playwright and essayist Arthur Miller once said, “A good newspaper, I suppose, is a nation talking to itself.” That’s what EDGE Davao is trying to do.
Now on its 11th year, EDGE Davao continues to serve the people not only in Davao City, but also the whole Davao Region, the island of Mindanao, the whole country and even those living in other parts of the world. You can access its website by clicking: http://www.edgedavao.net.
