The greatest adventure of our life so far (or the story of how we won an international award in Europe and the mad and crazy struggle of it all)

Part 2 by Raia Jennifer E. Dela Pena-Landicho

My feverish email relationship with Dr. Aralynn Mcmane began soon after her congratulatory email. First things first: How in hell are we going to get ourselves to Europe? Pardon my French but we didn’t even have passports when we found out about winning the Natasa Prize. I haven’t renewed my passport in like nine years and my husband has never even applied for one. I know, I know, it may sound strange to some people but we didn’t have passports and it never bothered us that we didn’t have any. We had no reason to travel abroad and ever since we started the business, Sinag that is, we couldn’t imagine leaving the press for more than a few days or spending hard earned money on foreign travel when we were working our butts off trying to make the new business a success.

So there. We had no passports! Waahhh!

Imagine winning an international award and not even having passports. It’s absurd. I should have applied for passports as soon as we submitted our entry to the WAN-IFRA but as I said, I never thought we would win.

Our beautiful Natasa Prize trophy from WAN-IFRA

Then of course, it turned out the passport was the least of our problems. We had to worry about schengen visas too. One of the most difficult visas to acquire, the schengen is right up there with the US visa (the holy grail of Filipino bourgeois travelers). Apparently, people prepare months ahead of their travel period for schengen visa applications. We had around a maximum of a month and a half to get everything ready: passports and visas all together. Needless to say, it seemed an impossible feat to achieve all that in such a short period of time. When we went to a travel agency near our office, the staff there almost laughed out loud when we told them our situation. We were told, condescendingly, that passports now take around a month to two months to process. There is now a tedious appointment system implemented by the DFA ever since biometric passports were invented and people trying to get an appointment with the DFA should wait around two to three weeks to get an appointment for an application. That doesn’t include the processing time after your appointment date of course. Sigh.

Early on, I felt that yes, we won, but no, we won’t get to receive our award. The win felt like a defeat.

And then suddenly, in the midst of my passport induced depression, a very good friend of mine, (actually one of the regular speakers for the Sinag JTS), told me he had a good friend who works for the DFA and that DFA employees had a courtesy pass privilege for passport processing every month. He told our story to this friend of his and she took pity on our plight and even though we were complete strangers, she gave us three of her courtesy passes for that month! How amazing is that? It suddenly felt like pieces of a puzzle falling into place. I was so overjoyed by the serendipity of it all – a friend who had a friend who had courtesy passes! I won’t name the person who helped us with our passports as I’m sure she values her privacy a lot but let me just say that good Samaritans still exist in this world and she is definitely one of them. Helping a stranger is a noble thing and she’s a real angel, I tell you.

So, we got our courtesy passes and our passports were scheduled to be released by September 12, just enough time for visa appointments. We were optimistic and enthusiastic! We are going to Vienna!

Then again, the ax fell.

The Austrian Embassy said that it takes two weeks to get an appointment for an interview and then you have to wait another three weeks to get results, which means we should get our visas around two weeks AFTER the awarding ceremonies. So near, and yet so far I tell myself...TO BE CONTINUED

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

The greatest adventure of our life so far (or the story of how we won an international award in Europe and the mad and crazy struggle of it all)

by Raia Jennifer Dela Pena-Landicho

Part 1:

Who would have thought that in a matter of months, our life would change so drastically and go upside down like some roller coaster ride? That is exactly how I feel about us winning the Natasa Prize in the World Young Reader Prize given by the WAN-IFRA (World Organization of Newspapers and Publishers).

Last June, we received an email from Ms. Aralynn Mcmane. She introduced herself as an executive director of a department in the World Organization of Newspapers and Publishers (WAN-IFRA) and invited us to join an annual competition given by their organization. This year, she said, there is a special category called the Natasa Prize to be given to newspaper printing plants that advocate teaching journalism to the youth.

Of course, Sinag printing has become well known for its social responsibility program, the Sinag Journalism Training Seminars, and our Sinag JTS was a perfect fit for the Natasa Prize category. And yet, who’d have thought there was a competition for such an endeavor?

My husband, the perennial skeptic, thought it was another email phishing scam. Keeping that warning in mind, we did our research first before answering Ms. Mcmane’s email. Of course, all our research told us that this was, in fact, a big and prestigious international organization we were dealing with and we immediately went to work creating the power point presentation that was to be our entry for the Natasa Prize.

We submitted our program entry a few days before June 30, WAN-IFRA’s deadline for the competition. We then got an acknowledgement from Mcmane and her staff and were told that we’d find out the result of the competition by late August. That was that. I wrote a short blog about joining the contest, I felt then that it was already such a privilege to have been invited to join the competitions but never thought about winning it. I remember daydreaming about winning and imagining going to Vienna but these were daydreams and I soon forgot about the Natasa Prize as we did work on various things, including the 3^rd Sinag JTS last July.

Around the third week of August we started waiting for any kind of email announcement from WAN-IFRA and when no emails came, we assumed that somebody else won and forgot about it since it was a busy month for us at the press.

Then one morning, I was still upstairs when I heard the girls (our assistants that is) screaming downstairs. My first thought was perhaps an ax murderer got into the office but since the screams sounded happy enough, I thought maybe something else. As if on cue, of course, they burst into our room and showed me a paper – apparently Aralynn Mcmane’s personal congratulatory email. WE WON TOP PRIZE for the Natasa Award!!!

Oh! that day was such a dream. Probably the happiest day of my life – barring the day I gave birth to my son, my wedding day, and the day I found out about passing the UPCAT, that is. J It didn’t really sink in at first. I read the words but I didn’t really feel it was real when we first found out. I remember taking a shower that morning and looking at my reflection in the mirror, I was wearing a silly and slightly stupid looking smile, it’s the kind of smile dumbfounded people must wear all the time. :) TO BE CONTINUED...

Sinag in the News: Pinoy entrepreneur couple receives international publisher’s award in Vienna

Sinag Printing owners Ruel Landicho and Raia Dela Pena-Landicho with Dr. Aralynn McMane, Director of Young Readership Development, and Jacob Mathew, WAN-IFRA President.

For their corporate social responsibility program, a husband-and-wife team of small entrepreneurs based in Calamba, Laguna received an international publisher’s award last Oct. 12 in Vienna, Austria.

Ruel Landicho and wife Raia Jennifer dela Peña-Landicho, proprietors of Sinag Publishing and Printing Services, received the Nataza Prize from the World Association of Newspapers and News Publishers (WAN-IFRA) in ceremonies held at the Reed Exhibitions Wien in Vienna.

The occasion was the 63rd World Newspaper Congress and the 18th World Editors Forum.

Speaking for her husband before editors and publishers from around the world, dela Peña-Landicho said, “The joy of being recognized in a big way for connecting with and giving back to the community in a small way is simply amazing. It goes without saying that this award will inspire us to do more and do better.”

Sinag Publishing and Printing Services won the award for the Sinag Journalism Training Seminar, a free seminar that has catered to more than a thousand students from both public and private schools in Laguna.

“I was away from my hometown for so long because I was studying in Metro Manila and doing some NGO work. When I came back, my father wanted me to take on his publishing business, but my problem was how to re-connect with Laguna, which was supposed to be my market,” dela Peña-Landicho said.

“That’s how we thought of this idea, from the need to re-connect with Laguna,” she added.

“So I dedicate this award to the memory of my father, Victorino dela Peña, who passed away recently. It was him who instilled in me the need to be of service to others even as we do business,” she said.

The Nataza Prize is named after Nataza Vuckovic Lesendric (1966-2011), a Serbian who owned a distribution system and set up a printing plant for the alternative press under the government of Slobodan Milosevic.

Lesendric modernized the management of the distribution system and the printing plant while supporting and promoting freedom of the press.

Dela Peña’s father set up a small printing company which publishes two free community newspapers, Tambuling Batangas and Ang Caviteño News Weekly. He died last January 2010.

“When we received the invitation via e-mail to apply for the award, I thought, like many people receiving such invitations in this age of e-mail, that it was all a scam. We still submitted our papers but without expectations,” dela Peña-Landicho said.

“We are very happy. What we thought was a scam turned out to be real, and a generous way of recognizing our small efforts. We are very grateful to WAN-IFRA” she added.

“I hope this award will make other companies, even small ones like ours, to value their Corporate Social Responsibility programs. My father always told me that ‘No one is too small when it comes to giving back to the community and helping others’,” she said.











Sinag owners while giving their speech.












Sinag owners, Raia Dela Pena-Landicho and Ruel Landicho, while receiving their Natasa Prize trophy from WAN-IFRA President, Jacob Mathew.











World Young Reader Prize Awardee



Other news feature on Sinag Printing winning the Natasa Prize for Printing Plants:

Sinag in the news!

Hello everybody! We were so overwhelmed to find out that the Philippine Star Newspaper had featured Sinag in its “The Good News” section last Sunday, 11 September 2011. We didn’t even know that we were featured in the newspaper if not for a neighbor who had read the article and showed us the newspaper two days after it came out. Needless to say, we were in mad scramble to find copies of the newspaper! So glad we were in Manila yesterday and were able to buy the Sunday issue of the Phil. Star in their head office.

We found out that the news of Sinag printing winning the Natasa Prize in the World Young Reader Awards came out on the internet as well. International newspaper sites, like the Scandinavian News Magazine site Scandasia.com and Ang Kalatas.com, a Filipino community newspaper based in Sydney, Australia featured Sinag in their sites as well. The Philippine Information Agency (PIA) also featured us in their News section and the PIA news was picked up by other sites as well!

We feel so blessed that the mainstream media has recognized our winning this award. For a while, some people didn’t really seem to believe we won an international award; but when it came out in the news, I guess there is no denying the fact now.

We’ve had so many happy things happening these past few weeks but we just have one last wish though -- we really, really hope we get to receive the award ourselves in Vienna, Austria this October.

We have our fingers crossed on this. You see, we have less than a month to process the visa applications and there’s still a possibility that they may not grant our Schengen visas. We were invited by the WAN-IFRA to visit them at their headquarters in Paris, France and then after that we will go to Vienna for the awarding ceremonies at the World Newspaper Congress. Please pray for us, that Sinag will be able to go to Europe for the awarding ceremonies. In the meantime, while we wait for visa applications and their results, here are the links to the sites that have featured Sinag printing and the Natasa Prize. Kindly click on the logo below to view the articles. Thanks and enjoy reading!

Sinag bags int'l award for student training program

Small Filipino business wins international publishers' award

Norske Skog Award for Newspapers Attracting Young Readers

Small Filipino company wins international award

WOW! Last Sunday, September 11, 2011, we were featured in Philippine Star - the Good News section for winning an International award.
Here is the link http://www.philstar.com/Article.aspx?articleId=726018&publicationSubCategoryId=473

SINAG printing wins international award

A small Filipino printing press from Laguna won an international award given by a Europe based organization.

Sinag Publishing and Printing Services from Calamba City, Laguna won top prize in the Natasa Prize category of the World Young Reader Awards given by the World Association of Newspapers and News Publishers (WAN-IFRA) based in Paris, France.

The Natasa Prize for newspaper printing plants is an award for projects by newspaper printing plants that effectively teach the young about newspapers and journalism. Sinag printing won top prize for this award thru its social responsibility program, the Sinag Journalism Training Seminars.

The Sinag seminars are free journalism seminars for students from public and private institutions in the province of Laguna. First launched in October 2008 and re-launched last February 2011, these seminars are free events offering lectures and workshops on journalism topics like editorial and news writing.

According to the WAN-IFRA jury who 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 youth learn about the importance and fragility of a free press and about how to do good journalism.”

The Natasa Prize is named after Natasa Vuckovic Lesendric (1966-2011) who founded and ran a distribution system and then a printing plant for the independent press of Serbia under the regime of Slobodan Milosevic She introduced modern practice to the management in both operations while encouraging actions that supported press freedom and introducing the young to this concept.

The prizes will be awarded on 12 October in Vienna, Austria, at the 63^rd World Newspaper Congress and 18^th World Editors Forum. Sinag printing will win a 1000 Euro cash prize for this award which is sponsored by Norske Skog, the Norway-based global paper producer.

Sinag printing owners Ruel Landicho and Raia Dela Pena-Landicho said they were overwhelmed by the international recognition given to their small company, “When we started the Sinag Journalism Seminars in 2008, we never thought this would ever happen, we are shocked and amazed by this good news,” said Landicho

“We are very happy with this award, its proves that you don’t have to be a big company to do a successful social responsibility program, even small entrepreneurs like us can give back to one’s community in a big way,” said Dela Pena-Landicho.

The World Association of Newspapers and News Publishers (WAN-IFRA) is the global organization of the world’s press, representing more than 18,000 publications, 15,000 online sites and over 3,000 companies in more than 120 countries.

Please feel free to visit the WAN-IFRA's website regarding the World Young Reader Prize winners for 2011 at http://www.wan-ifra.org/articles/2011/08/17/the-2011-world-young-reader-prizes-about-the-winners