Atom Araullo’s ‘The Hunger Pandemic’ wins Journalism For An Equitable Asia Award first prize

Award-winning Kapuso journalist Atom Araullo bagged the first prize in the recently concluded Journalism For An Equitable Asia Award 2021-22 presented by Asia Centre and Oxfam in Asia for his cover story on GMA News Online titled “The hunger pandemic.”

Araullo’s winning piece talks about the story of Ben Rivero and his dogs, who have long subsisted on “pagpag” or restaurant leftovers. The story discusses how this situation has worsened immensely during the COVID-19 pandemic.

“I’d like to thank my news organization, GMA, and of course, the experts, the subjects, and the contributors whose generosity made it possible to put this story together,” Araullo said in his online acceptance speech.

“Crucially, even though we may be already seeing light at the end of the tunnel of this public health crisis, poverty, hunger, food, and security will stick around for years to come,” the journalist said.

“I think it was Oxfam itself that estimated that it will take more than a decade for the world’s poorest to recover from the pandemic, and while the mega-rich become even richer, there’s clearly something wrong with the situation from an economic and world perspective,” he added.

READ: The hunger pandemic by Atom Araullo

The awarding ceremony was held on Tuesday (March 15) in a hybrid in-person and online event in Bangkok, Thailand. Among the nominees for the award are entries from journalists in Bangladesh, Cambodia, China, India, Indonesia, Malaysia, Myanmar, Nepal, Pakistan, Philippines, Singapore, Timor-Leste, Thailand and Vietnam.

According to the award-giving body, “these journalists delivered high-quality articles on the impact of the COVID-19 pandemic on the lives and livelihoods of disadvantaged groups including women, ethnic, religious and gender minorities, migrants, and informal workers.”

Joining Araullo in the roster of awardees were Marielle Lucieno who bagged the second prize and Vantha Phoung, Lay Sopheavotey and Gerald Flynn who were awarded the third prize.

Congratulations, Atom Araullo! – RC, GMA News