Aquinians once again proved their prowess in campus journalism in the annual Division Schools Press Conference held on 20 Aug, Mon, at San Juan Elementary School.

The delegation of the school in the high school department emerged as the over-all champion with its several first place wins.

In the list include Joseph Quinto – third in Filipino copyreading, Joshua Lucas – third in Filipino editorial writing, Enrico Estrella III – third in Filipino feature writing, Marcus Allas – third in Filipino news writing, Sean Rodriguez – second in Filipino science writing, Jethro Lagmay – second in Filipino sports writing, Arkin Tan – second in English science writing, Austin Castaneda – second in English sports writing, John Paul Javier – second in English feature writing, Ramir Gumangan – first in Filipino editorial cartooning, Juan Gabrielle Martin – first in Filipino photojournalism, Harry Barotea – first in English editorial cartooning, Xavier Ala – first in English photojournalism, Joshua Concepcion – first in English copyreading, Sean Asesor – first in English editorial writing, and Jason Sigales – first in English news writing.

Aquinas’ team for English Radio Broadcasting and Script Writing – Matthew Fami, Jeth Del Rosario, Dan Guiruela, Johndayll Arizala, Ziraili Basa, Kyle Santos, and Justin Rubio, bagged second place overall, along with a second place win for Jeth Del Rosario as Best Anchor, and third place win for Ziraili Basa as Best News Presenter.

At the same time, the team for English Collaborative Desktop Publishing – Gian Marquez, Railey Nuñez, Marcus Ferrer, Gerald Baliton, Yadjee Lozano, Kenji Reyes, and Jericho Navarro, made their way up to second place overall.

The team for Filipino Radio Broadcasting and Script Writing – Vincent Varlez, Kevin Uy, Aaron Araza, Kyle Lim, Benjamin Santos, Philip Sumido, and Andre Abad, ranked first overall, bagging all awards for Best Anchors, Best News Presenters, Best Infomercials, Best Technical Application, and Best Script.

Participants placed seventh and above in the individual categories, and first in team categories will be heading to the Regional School Press Conference in late September.

Some of Aquinas’ grade school participants in individual categories made it to the top seven: Nathaniel Reyes – seventh in English editorial cartooning, John Carlo Rosano – third in Filipino feature writing, Emmanuel Quinto – second in Filipino photojournalism, Armand Bernabeo – second in English feature writing, and Andre Reyes – first in English editorial writing.

Aligned with the theme “Fostering 21st Century Skills and Character-Based Education through Campus Journalism”, the event started with an inspirational message from San Juan Schools Division Superintendent Dr. Joel Torrecampo, emphasizing
their roles as teachers in enhancing the youth’s values.

“As vanguards of truth and justice, [we must] live up to our ideals,” Torrecampo said.

Next came the keynote speech of San Juan City Information Officer Ms. Grace Pardines, inspiring participants with motivational quotes.

“Journalism should continuously exist because people should know the truth,” Pardines said.