By Llewelyn Mark Inid
Philippine Morning Post’s main writer, Henrylito D. Tacio, was one of the big winners from Mindanao in the 2023 Globe Media Excellence Awards (GMEA) – now on its 10th year of honoring and recognizing journalists from Mindanao and the Visayas – held in Radisson Blu Hotel in Cebu City last March 31.
“Turning methane into clean fuel,” which Tacio wrote in his regular column, “View to Ponder,” in Philippine Morning Post, was adjudged Best Column of the Year from Mindanao.
He was pitted against himself (for his “No to violence in school,” which was carried in his Edge Davao column, “Think on These”) and Jinggoy Salvador (whose “Caroline finds her color” appeared in SunStar Davao).
For twice in a row, he won this category. Last year, he was declared winner as he was the lone finalist in the category. He pitted against himself as he got three nominations in the same category.
Actually, this is his third award in the same category. When he was still writing for SunStar Davao, his column “Regarding Henry” was adjudged Best Column of the Year for the specific column entitled, “Take heed of these warnings.”
Tacio also received three other GMEA Awards. In 2015, he received two awards: one for Reporter of the Year and another one for Investigative Report of the Year. The winning entries came out in Edge Davao.
In 2016, he won the Investigative Report of the Year Online. The report came out on Edge Davao’s online publication.
So far, he has won four awards from the Bright Leaf Agriculture Journalism Awards.
Tacio has two Hall of Fame Awards. The first one was from the Philippine Press Institute for winning five times in its annual Science and Technology Journalism Awards. He won two first prize citations, one second prize (the year when no first prize was declared), and two runner-up recognitions.
The Jose Burgos Biotech Journalism Awards also bestowed him the Hall of Fame having won the awards four times: two first prizes and two runners-up.
In 1999, Tacio was recognized by the Rotary Club of Manila as the year’s Top Journalist of the Year. Also named that year were Conrado de Quiros (Journalist of the Year for Print), Ces Drillon (Journalist of the Year for Television), and DWIZ Siyasat Team (Journalist of the Year for Radio). Three other journalists from Luzon, Visayas, and Mindanao were also honored.
Tacio has also received journalism awards from Philippine Agricultural Journalists, Inc. (which bestow Binhi awards to agricultural journalists in the country), Earth Savers Movement/United Nations Environment Program, Department of Environment and Natural Resources (DENR), and Department of Science and Technology (DOST).
He has attended several international conferences in the United States, Australia, South Africa, Malaysia, Thailand, Canada, Indonesia, Thailand, and Singapore. He was a fellow of the Woodrow Wilson Institute for Scholars in Washington, D.C.
He has also travelled to Cambodia, Vietnam, and China for his work as a journalist.
He also once served as a consultant of the UN Food and Agriculture Organization and UN Population Fund (as one of the editors of “In Search of Excellence: Exemplary Forest Management in Asia-Pacific Region”) and UN Population Fund.
Currently, he writes for various newspapers – both local and national – and different Manila-based magazines, including Agriculture and MARID Agribusiness. He also writes regularly for Enrich, a monthly publication of Mercury Drug.
Aside from Philippine Morning Post, he also contributes to the online publication of Health and Lifestyle and Gaia Discovery (based in Singapore).
Locally, he writes for Edge Davao.
In the past, he has written for international publications like Reader’s Digest, Mental Floss (a US-based magazine), and South Review.