2025 Aries Rufo Journalism Fellowship welcomes new cohort of campus journalists

This is AI generated summarization, which may have errors. For context, always refer to the full article.

Nine campus journalists are chosen for the Aries Rufo Journalism Fellowship

MANILA, Philippines – Rappler, in partnership with the Journalism for Nation Building Foundation (JNBF), has accepted nine campus journalists for this year’s Aries Rufo Journalism Fellowship. 

Named in honor of the late investigative reporter Aries Rufo, who covered the church, judiciary, politics, and elections for Newsbreak and Rappler, the fellowship aims to uphold his legacy of fearless journalism.

This cohort marks the fifth cycle of the Aries Rufo Journalism Fellowship, a program launched in 2021 to support aspiring and early-career journalists. 

Over the past four cycles, the fellowship has trained 30 journalists — 21 community and nine campus journalists — with campus journalists included in the last three cycles.  (READ: Rappler 2024 Fellowships end with stories that impact on their communities)

For this fifth cycle, the program focuses exclusively on campus journalists, recognizing their vital role in shaping community conversations.

Before their selection, short-listed fellowship candidates covered local elections across the Philippines as part of the fellowship program screening process and Rappler’s commitment to delivering timely, on-the-ground election updates.

Meet the 2025 Aries Rufo Journalism Fellows

At least five of them are from Luzon, three from the Visayas, and one from Mindanao: 

LUZON 

• Roland Andam Jr. – Tuguegarao City
  The CSU Communicator, Cagayan State University – Andrews Campus
  
• Hershey Juan – Daraga, Albay
  The Bicol Universitarian, Bicol University 
  
• Eirene Manatlao – Caloocan City
  The Catalyst, Polytechnic University of the Philippines
  
• Princess Leah Joy Sagaad – Los Baños, Laguna
  Tanglaw, University of the Philippines Los Baños
  
• Jose Emmanuel Thayer – Baguio City
  UP Baguio Outcrop, University of the Philippines Baguio

VISAYAS 

• Jasmine Kris Caleza – Miagao, Iloilo
  iWrite, University of the Philippines Visayas
  
• Marjuice Destinado – Cebu City
  Ang Suga, Cebu Normal University
  
• Rey Mark Paran – Miagao, Iloilo
  Pagbutlak, University of the Philippines Visayas

MINDANAO 

• Abdul Hafiz Malawani – Marawi City
  Mindanao Varsitarian, Mindanao State University Marawi

About the program

The fellowship program was designed for campus journalists to be given an opportunity to be mentored by Rappler’s veteran journalists and editors. 

Fellows will undergo an intensive training on local governance reporting, emphasizing public service delivery, development planning, budget accountability, and key local priorities, with a forward-looking view to the 2028 national elections.

It will include training sessions, both online and onsite at the Rappler office in Manila, to equip them with the skills to pursue public interest journalism rooted in good governance and information integrity.

Aside from participating in the training sessions, fellows are also expected to produce weekly community stories or multimedia outputs that highlight issues in their local areas.

As a final output, fellows will work on a long-form story anchored on themes of good governance and/or information integrity in their local contexts. (READ: Collection: Investigative, in-depth stories of #FactsMatter, Aries Rufo Journalism fellows)

Out of over 50 applicants, the selected fellows showed potential for in-depth reporting and commitment to addressing critical issues in their respective regions. The fellowship will run from June 2025 to October 2025. 

Aside from the Aries Rufo Fellowship Program, Rappler has also trained Southeast Asian journalists through the #FactsMatter Journalism Fellowship. – Rappler.com