MA in Journalism lecturer Jasper Emmanuel Arcalas, an alumnus of the BA Journalism program, won first prize for the Best News Category of the 2024 Jose Burgos Jr. Biotechnology Journalism Awards, held on November 21, 2024.
Arcalas won for the story “CA ruling stops imports of Bt talong, golden rice” that was published in his current news outfit The Philippine STAR.
A decorated journalist, Arcalas is the first Thomasian to receive the Bright Leaf Hall of Fame award for agriculture journalism. Last November 8, he also won the Agriculture and Mining Reporter of the Year award from the Economic Journalists Association of the Philippines.