Iloilo Metropolitan Times (IMT NEWS) reporter Elyrose Naorbe was named one of the winners in the Department of Labor and Employment’s (DOLE) 2021 Media Awards.

Naorbe bagged the Silver Award for reporting the impact of the agency’s TUPAD program to the lives of its beneficiaries.

His story, titled “DOLE’s TUPAD program benefits over 135K individuals in WV” (/dole’s-tupad-program-benefits-over-135k-individuals-in-wv), was published last November 2, 2021.

TUPAD or Tulong Panghanapbuhay sa Ating Disadvantaged/Displaced Workers is a community-based package of assistance that provides emergency employment for displaced workers, underemployed and seasonal workers.

“Covering stories in government agencies like DOLE-6 reveals the real situation of the people in the community,” said Naorbe.

“We listen to the stories of the beneficiaries and know the support from the government especially during the pandemic and it is good to cover government stories because you’ll get to know the two sides of the story – of the workers and of the government leaders,” he continued.

The Media Awards was one of the highlights of the 88th DOLE Anniversary Celebration in December last year. It “recognized the outstanding published stories of DOLE’s programs and services that have touched the lives of the jobseekers, workers and employers and the achievement of DOLE in the performance of its mandate as the country moves towards recovery.”

The other winner from Western Visayas was Glenda S. Tayona of Panay News. She took home the Gold Award for her story titled “Labor programs fuel jeepney drivers to get by”.IMT

IN PHOTO from L-R, IMT NEWS reporter Elyrose Naorbe and Department of Labor and Employment (DOLE-6) regional director Atty. Sixto T. Rodriguez, Jr.