The TOYM awardees of GMA 7

If Gabriel Garcia Marquez were a Filipino he would have won a TOYM award first then he would have proceeded to win the Nobel Prize. This is not meant to desecrate the Nobel Prize but to emphasize how coveted the TOYM Award is in the Philippines. And why do I remember Marquez as I do this piece on TOYM? Because I remember parts of his farewell letter to his friends (Marquez is afflicted with cancer) that can be found on the internet that reminds me of three TOYM awardees.

"I would walk when others hold back. I would wake when others sleep, I would listen when others talk, and how I would enjoy a good chocolate ice cream."

Butch Jimenez, a TOYM awardee comes to mind after reading this line. I have had the privilege of working with Butch. He is determined, focused and is unafraid to tread paths that are less traveled. He is also a buddy who you can enjoy a good laugh and ice cream.

"If for an instant, God were to forget that I am a rag doll, and gifted me with a piece of life, possibly, I would say all that I think, but rather I would think all that I say."

TOYM awardee Jessica Soho comes to mind. Jessica is a courageous human being. To me, she has the courage to say not everything that can be said but the things that ought to be said because they are often times the right things to say.

"I would sleep little, dream more, understanding that each minute we close our eyes, we lose 60 seconds of light."

Manny Pangilinan, another TOYM awardee is where he is today because of hard work. He is a visionary. No great man has without a vision. And no great man would waste 60 seconds of light.

Butch, Jessica and Manny are all TOYM awardees. A couple of days ago, nominations for this year’s TOYM awards have been finalized. Winners will be announced soon.

GMA Network, Inc. is known for the awards it has won in the past 25 years. And individuals within the GMA organization (like Butch, Jessica and Manny) have won awards from TOYM which is the most prestigious award for excellence given in one’s field in this country.

Let’s take a look at Butch, Jessica and Manny and let’s find out what it takes to be TOYM awardees.

Jessica Soho. Jessica was chosen as one of the Ten Outstanding Young Men in 1993. Before TOYM, she has already won virtually all major awards given out to outstanding journalists by award-giving bodies here and abroad. As a journalist, nobody comes close to what Jessica Soho has achieved in her 15 years with GMA Network. This, aside from being host and producer of several award-winning news and current affairs programs and documentaries.

Her stories on Kidneys For Sale, and Kamao (the plight of Filipino boxers) made her the country’s first ever Peabody winner. The George Foster Peabody Award for Investigative Journalism is the highest award Jessica has ever received. The Peabody award is regarded as the Pulitzer of Broadcasting. Apart from the Peabody, Jessica’s work has been recognized in the New York Festivals (for her coverage of the Cagayan Crisis) making her the first Philippine winner in the Festival. The same honor was repeated this year when she landed finalist for her documentary, The Essence of Payatas.

In Asia, Jessica achieved similar success by winning the Asia Pacific Broadcasting Union Grand Prize for her coverage of a breaking story in the 1994 show Kape At Balita. Her documentary Kamao has also been singled out as a finalist for Best Documentary in the Asian TV Festival.

Butch Jimenez. He was thrust into the limelight when he was tasked to co-produce the movie on the national hero, Jose Rizal. Showbiz looked at Butch with skepticism. Afterall, he was new and inexperienced. Jose Rizal, the young producer’s initiation movie became the most successful movie of all time and stands as benchmark of excellence in Philippine cinema. Butch was awarded the TOYM in 1998, the TOYP (Ten Outstanding Young Persons of the World) in 1999. This year he was the recipient of the Distinguished Evangelical of the Year Award with Gary Valenciano and Rosa Rosal.

As head of the Creative Services Division of GMA Network, Butch conceptualized plugs and campaigns that have earned a Promax Silver Trophy, a Finalist medal at the New York TV and Film Festival, and recently, the Gold Award at the Fuji Titles Fair in Japan. He conceptualized the now famous GMA Peace Plug where he put together political opponents like Erap, Chavit, Cory, Miriam, Mike Velarde, Cardinal Sin, etc. singing Let There Be Peace on Earth.

Butch is also part of Monster Radio, RX 93.1, a two-time winner of the Best Station Award and a consistent top rater in the pop format and is an author of four books, and writes for the country’s top newspapers and magazines. Butch published a Manila Critics award winning book, Ang Screenplay Ng Jose Rizal. He is also a "founder" of the Philippine Forum, a brainchild of Mar Roxas which brings together shakers and movers in Philippine business, government, arts, civil society and the academe.

Of late, Butch has been tapped by Mediaworks Singapore, to produce their anchor program Paradise. The show is film shot on location in the Philippines and features three top Singaporean artists including the popular MTV host, Nadya Hutagalong.

Manuel V. Pangilinan. Manny Pangilinan was awarded the TOYM for International Business and Finance in the ’80s for developing successful corporate business in Hong Kong, Asia’s financial capital. A born nationalist, he focused his core investments towards the Philippines in a move to help his country grow and chart a new economic path for the Philippines and Philippine corporations. In the middle of the Asian crisis, where most investors divested from the Philippines, Pangilinan, brought in approximately $2.3 billion in the acquisition of PLDT and Ft. Boni by First Pacific alone.

In two years as head of PLDT, he transformed the telecom company into a new-media conglomerate ready to take on the future innovations the 21st Century has to offer. His most recent and clearly most exciting acquisition is GMA Network Inc. Soon to take over GMA, he is wasting no time in making his presence felt in the television industry.

He is one of the real movers and shakers in Asian business. He is indeed most deserving of the TOYM.