Daily Guardian Earns Jaime Espina Klima Correspondents Fellowship Grant

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Daily Guardian has been awarded the prestigious Jaime Espina Klima Correspondents Fellowship grant for 2024 for a feature on Iloilo City’s net-metering program and its role in advancing renewable energy adoption while reducing energy costs.

The Fellowship, organized by the Institute for Climate and Sustainable Cities (ICSC), supports 10 journalist teams across the Philippines in crafting stories that highlight the country’s transition to renewable energy.

It honors the late Jose Jaime “Nonoy” Espina, a journalist and advocate for press freedom and media workers’ welfare.

DG reporters Rjay Castor and Joshua Mendoza will receive PHP 100,000 to cover reporting expenses, stipends, and production costs for their story.

Their feature will be published in #DailyGuardian and shared through ICSC’s platforms, contributing to a growing body of work on renewable energy’s role in the Philippines’ development.

The fellows will participate in a three-day in-person training session in Metro Manila from Dec. 10 to 12, focusing on energy reporting, journalism ethics, data journalism, and visual storytelling.

The sessions will include consultations with experts in climate policy and renewable energy to refine their proposals further.

Other selected stories include topics such as Lumad resistance to coal mining, micro-hydro alternatives in the Cordillera, agrivoltaics in Nueva Ecija, and renewable energy’s role in seaweed farming in Tawi-Tawi.

These stories, ranging from community impact to policy challenges, reflect the diversity of approaches in the country’s energy transition.

The Fellows were chosen through a rigorous selection process by a panel of journalists, editors, and climate and energy experts. The initiative is supported by the National Union of Journalists of the Philippines (NUJP), the Foreign Correspondents Association of the Philippines (FOCAP), and data consultancy firm Thibi.

The Jaime Espina Klima Correspondents Fellowship continues to raise awareness of the challenges and opportunities in renewable energy while fostering impactful storytelling to support informed decision-making and public engagement.

List of Fellows and Stories

• Altermidya – People’s Alternative Media Network (Feliciano Genevieve and Ang Avon): Lumad Resistance Against Coal Mining’s Threat to Ancestral Lands in Lake Sebu
• Mongabay (Michael Philip Beltran and Geela Maryse Garcia): Be Like Water: Micro-Hydro Alternatives in the Cordillera Region
• Northern Dispatch/North Luzon Monitor (Maria Elena Catajan and Sherwin De Vera): Energy Projects in Cordillera: Success, Struggles, and Community Impact
• Radyo Natin Guimba DWTC 105.3FM (Marina Herrera and Vermarie Carranza): Agrivoltaics in Nueva Ecija: Harvesting Food and Energy for Climate Resilience
• MindaNews (Antonio L. Colina IV and Enrimand Esmer Dejeto): Tapping the Power of Rivers for IP Communities in Davao
• Rappler (John Sebastian Sitchon and Jacqueline Hernandez): How Solar Energy Supports Olango’s Wildlife Rangers and Communities in Cebu
• Daily Guardian (Rjay Castor and Joshua Mendoza): Iloilo City’s Net-Metering Program: Paving the Way for Renewable Energy and Reducing Costs
• Pinoy Weekly (Neil Ambion and Cindy Aquino): Barriers to Greener Transport in Metro Manila
• GMA News Network (Lilian Tiburcio and Mark Louie Ladesma): Empowering Tawi-Tawi: Renewable Energy Boosting Seaweed Farming Resilience
• ZS Tribune Today/Sun Times Philippines (Elvie Villarido-Manaytay and Antonio Manaytay): Hydrogen-Powered Development in Zamboanga Sibugay’s Olutanga Island