Pinoy journalist honored as Photographer of the Year in New South Wales

The New South Wales (NSW) Parliamentary awarded a Filipino journalist for his work on covering an important movement against racial discrimination.

Romy Cayabyab, editor of The Filipino Australian, received the Award for Photographer of the Year 2014 at the Multicultural and Indigenous Multicultural Awards (MIMA) held in Sydney last September, according to a report on The Filipino Australian.

His entry, "Walk for Respect: Its Story in Photos," was a series of photographic stories documenting the protests staged by the Lakemba community in NSW.

These protests were part of the "Walk for Respect" campaign, a movement opposing attempts by Tony Abbott and the Liberal party of Australia to repeal Section 18C of the Racial Discrimination Act, according to a report on The Guardian.

Section 18C states that actions which humiliate or intimidate persons according to their race, color, national or ethnic origin are prohibited by law.

Cayabyab was a previous winner of MIMA, having won the Award for Coverage of Community Affairs in its inaugural year in 2012, according to Ang Kalatas.

Sydney Morning Herald reported in August that Abbott gave up on the changes after ethnic community leaders and the general public heavily criticized his move. —Rie Takumi/KBK, GMA News