Bachelor of Arts in Communication (BA Comm) students took part in PluMalaya 2025, the first campus-based press conference organized by The Communicator and Communication Circle, held last September 8, in front of Oreta Building.
The event followed the theme: “Makabagong Pluma ng Kabataan Tungo sa mas Malayang Pamamahayag.” PluMalaya was divided into two sessions, the morning session being dedicated for lectures, and the afternoon sessions for the competition and Camp Journ.
To officially start the program, Ms. Rhia Obiniana, the Program Chair of BA Communication, gave her welcoming remarks, followed by the introduction of the guest speakers.
Mr. John Calvin Sandoval, the first speaker for PluMalaya 2025, shared his expertise in News Writing. In his lecture, he discussed the elements and structure of news. However, the lecture was temporarily halted due to unfavorable weather conditions and the students were relocated inside the University Library Extension.
Before continuing the lecture, Dr. Marie Joy Elomina, the Dean of the College of Arts in Sciences (CAS), and the University President, Dr. Charlemagne Laviña, graced the event and delivered inspiring messages to motivate the students and to congratulate the debut of PluMalaya.
After the inspirational message, Mr. Sandoval proceeded to continue his lecture on News Writing. To conclude his discussion about writing news articles, he left the statement, “Always tell the truth and nothing but the truth.”
The guest speaker and judge for Sports Writing, Mr. Gian Rowelle Erenia, discussed the structure of a sports article starting from the headline, lead, and body. Furthermore, he also advised students to write an article as if they were writing a story, concise but can be easily understood.
Simultaneously, the Sports and News Writing competitions, along with Camp Journ for non-competing students commenced during the afternoon session, while the lecture for Photojournalism, headed by Mr. Sandoval was taking place at the Library Extension.
In Camp Journ, students eagerly joined the activities centered on journalism. For Camp 1: Gus Abelgas – Investigative Journalism, the groups created a news report based on their interpretation of a picture. Meanwhile, in Camp 2: Papa Dudut – Radio Broadcasting and Drama, students were challenged to create a 5-minute radio drama without the accompaniment of any digital music or sound effects.
Before the awarding ceremony, Dr. Olga Domingo, faculty member of BA Communication, reiterated the objectives of PluMalaya. She also discussed the upcoming 16th National Campus Media Conference, where the winners of PluMalaya and other interested communication students are encouraged to join.
After a careful tabulation of the results, the winners have been decided. Ken Bryan Delizo of BA Comm 3A and Aurora Mejos of BA Comm 3B bagged the first place for News Writing English and Filipino categories respectively. For Sports Writing (English), Ian Laurence Faundo of BA Comm 2A won first place, while Maria Dianne Salipot of BA Comm 2B placed first for the Sports Writing (Filipino) category. The winners for Photojournalism English and Filipino categories were Gianne Kazmir Suniega of BA Comm 1B and Patricia Ann Tato of BA Comm 3A.
Despite the delays, PluMalaya 2025 emerged successful in imparting each student with journalistic knowledge and showcasing the talent of aspiring journalists.
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𝘉𝘺: 𝘎𝘸𝘺𝘯 𝘕𝘢𝘵𝘩𝘢𝘭𝘦𝘦 𝘕𝘶𝘦𝘷𝘦, 𝘛𝘩𝘦 𝘊𝘰𝘮𝘮𝘶𝘯𝘪𝘤𝘢𝘵𝘰𝘳
