News5’s Yaman ng Bayan, Bigtime bag CMMA awards

MANILA, Philippines - News5, TV5’s news and information arm, continues with its notable winning ways with its most recent victory at the prestigious 36th Catholic Mass Media Awards (CMMA), where two of its widely-followed documentary programs, Yaman ng Bayan and Bigtime, each took home some of the night’s most major awards.

Yaman ng Bayan — a 12-part docu-series which boasts of a formidable line-up of hosts led by News5 head Luchi Cruz-Valdes (photo), together with news anchor Erwin Tulfo, InterAksyon.com editor-in-chief Roby Alampay and Rescue5’s Paolo Bediones — won the award for Best Adult Educational Program. Making waves among viewers with its monthly educational and intriguing features about the country’s environment and natural resources, the program also tackles the challenges involved in preserving and protecting the country’s ecosystem.

The CMMA body of jurors also recognized News5’s weekly program Bigtime for giving the spotlight to simple and ordinary citizens whose success stories have proven to be awe-inspiring for viewers. The program, which has seasoned anchor Twink Macaraig at the helm, bested other shows by taking home the award for Best News Magazine Program.

On top of these, the 36th Catholic Mass Media Awards, which annually pays tribute to media productions that exhibit both technical excellence and enhancement of human values, also awarded one of TV5’s longest-running game shows, Who Wants to be a Millionaire, as the year’s Best Entertainment Program.