House Resolution No. 1863: Congratulating and Commending Sinag Publishing and Printing Services

We received this in the email today and were so happy to have gotten recognition from the Youth Representative in our Congress! Thank you to the kabataan Partylist and to Congressman Raymond "Mong" Palatino for this House Resolution on Sinag Printing. This is indeed a great honor! Below is the text in full of the said House Resolution:

REPUBLIC OF THE PHILIPPINES HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES Quezon City, Metro Manila FIFTEENTH CONGRESS Second Regular Session House Resolution No. 1863 Introduced by Kabataan Party-List Rep. Raymond V. Palatino

A RESOLUTION CONGRATULATING AND COMMENDING SINAG PUBLISHING AND PRINTING SERVICES AND ITS PROPRIETORS RUEL LANDICHO AND RAIA JENNIFER DELA PERA-LANDICHO FOR WINNING THE TOP PRIZE IN THE NATAZA PRIZE CATEGORY OF THE WORLD YOUNG READER AWARDS BY THE WORLD ASSOCIATION OF NEWSPAPERS AND NEWS PUBLISHERS

WHEREAS, it is State policy, in accordance to Republic Act No. 7079 or the Campus Journalism Act of 1991, to "promote the development and growth of campus journalism as a means of strengthening ethical values, encouraging critical and creative thinking, and developing moral character and personal discipline of the Filipino youth." In this vein, it is only fitting for the State to recognize various efforts aimed at improving the journalistic skills of young Filipinos and support programs and activities that promote at uphold the freedom of the press at the campus level; 

  WHEREAS, Sinag Publishing and Printing Services, a small printing press in Calamba City, Laguna owned by Ruel Landicho and Raia Dela Pena-Landicho, regularly offers free seminars, lectures and workshops on journalism to students of public and private institutions in Laguna through its flagship social responsibility program, the Sinag Journalism Training Seminars. First launched in October 2008, these events offer free lectures and workshops on journalism topics such as editorial and news writing; 

  WHEREAS, Sinag Publishing and Printing Services recently won the top prize in the Nataza Prize category of the World Young Reader Awards (WYRA). The Nataza Prize for newspaper printing plants is an award for projects by newspaper printing plants that effectively teach the young about newspapers and journalism. The WYRA is organized by the Europe-based World Association of Newspapers and News Publishers, a global organization of more than 18,000 publications, 15,000 online sites and over 3,000 companies in more than 120 countries; 

  WHEREAS, according to the WAN-IFRA jury which judged the awards in Brazil, "this printing plant's journalism seminar activity is clearly a fitting tribute to the person after whom this category is named as the commitment is clear to assuring that the youth learn about the importance and fragility of a free press and about how to do good journalism." The Nataza Prize is named after Nataza Vuckovic Lesendric, a Serbian who founded and ran a distribution system and then a printing plant for the independent press under the regime of Slobodian Milosevic; 

WHEREAS, the Laguna based husband-and-wife team of small entrepreneurs received the international award last October 12 in Vienna, Austria during the occasion of the 63` d World Newspaper Congress and the 18 th World Editors Forum at the Reed Exhibitions Wien; 

  WHEREAS, Sinag Publishing and Printing Services, in a statement, said that the international recognition bestowed upon them "proves that you don't have to be a big company to do a successful social responsibility program, and that even small entrepreneurs can give back to one's community in a big way"; 

  WHEREAS, despite the grim picture of press freedom in the country, with the Philippines being named by international bodies as the "most dangerous place for journalists in the world" due to rising and unsolved media killings, the commitment of Sinag Publishing and Printing Services to train and encourage young Filipinos, students and budding journalists to become skillful and ethical journalists and defenders of press freedom is a beacon of light in the media gloom and a show of trust for the Filipino youth that they can effect genuine change in our nation; 

  NOW THEREFORE BE IT RESOLVED, AS IT IS HEREBY RESOLVED, to congratulate and commend Sinag Publishing and Printing Services and its proprietors Ruel Landicho and Raia Jennifer Dela Pena-Landicho for winning the top prize in the Nataza Prize Category of the World Young Reader Awards by the World Association of Newspapers and News Publishers. 

  Adopted, HON. RAYMOND V. PALATINO Representative, Kabataan Party-list