Our first win! AutoFun Philippines among winners of 22nd Henry Ford Awards

Every year, Ford Philippines holds its Henry Ford Awards (HFA) to recognize excellence in Philippine automotive journalism.

Now in its 22nd year, the Blue Oval announced winners of the prestigious award at Xylo at the Palace in Taguig City on April 26, 2023.

The event was the culmination of months of rigorous deliberations of over 200 entries submitted by print, online and broadcast motoring media members.

“The HFA is our annual tradition of recognizing the important role journalists play in informing, educating, and influencing the motoring public on the latest vehicles, issues, and trends within the Philippine automotive industry," said Ford Asia Pacific Distributor Markets and the Philippines communications director EJ Francisco.

"We congratulate all the winners for the 22nd Henry Ford Awards and we look forward to celebrating the hard work, passion, and commitment of Filipino motoring journalists in driving the success of the local automotive industry for many years to come,” he added.

Entries for the HFA underwent an extensive two-phase judging process managed by a panel composed of distinguished educators of journalism and mass media studies, as well as seasoned professionals in the fields of marketing, public relations, digital publishing and audio-visual production.

A total of 13 winners were announced at the event across four categories: Industry Category, Ford Category, People Category and Team Category.

Trio of awards

AutoFun Philippines' very own Senior Writer VJ Bacungan won “Best Automotive Writer" for his hard work and dedication to the website.

This is AutoFun's first HFA and VJ's third since starting in media in 2015. He began as a newspaper correspondent after finishing journalism at the University of the Philippines Diliman.

Over the last eight years, he gained considerable experience in multimedia reporting by writing for various print, television and online publications. He joined AutoFun Philippines on September 2022.

"I would like to dedicate this award to the entire AutoFun Philippines team, whose teamwork and support have been instrumental in helping us get our first award," VJ said.

"I also dedicate this award to our audience, whose interests we always strive to protect," he added. "I hope that our work here continues to be recognized not just by award bodies, but by the public we serve."
 
Below are the winners of the 22nd Henry Ford Awards per category: 

INDUSTRY CATEGORY

• Best Automotive Vehicle Review (Article) – “2022 Peugeot 2008: La Vie En Rose” by Lester Dizon for Power Wheels Magazine
• Best Automotive Vehicle Review (Video) – “Caco goes on an adventure with the 2022 Mazda BT-50 4x2 AT” by Jack Gutierrez for AutoDeal
• Best Automotive Launch Story – “The all-new Kia Carnival is here for your revenge travel needs” by Jason Tulio for Top Gear Philippines
• Best Automotive Photograph – “An Icon That Will Never Be Forgotten” by Manskee Nascimento for VISOR
• Best Automotive Green Feature – “Hybrids or EVs: What’s the ‘greenest’ car for the PH?” by Eric Tipan for AutoIndustriya
• Best Automotive Road Safety Feature – “Dad: My First Driving Instructor” by Vince Pornelos for AutoIndustriya
• Best Automotive Industry Feature – “How the ‘laylayan ng lipunan’ deals with the high cost of commuting” by Tessa Salazar for Philippine Daily Inquirer

FORD CATEGORY

• Best Ford Automotive Feature – “Chart her Territory” by Tessa Salazar for Philippine Daily Inquirer
• Best Ford Automotive Video Feature – “2023 Ford Everest Review: The Absolute Best SUV In Its Segment” by Isaac Bustamante Atienza for Go Flat Out PH

PEOPLE CATEGORY

• Best Automotive Editor – Jong Arcano, Philippine Daily Inquirer
• Best Automotive Writer – VJ Bacungan, AutoFun Philippines

TEAM CATEGORY

• Best Automotive Section for Broadsheet – Philippine Daily Inquirer
• Best Automotive Website – VISOR

Congrats to VJ and all the other winners of this year's Henry Ford Awards!

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