schoolscolleges2020 hed news


ON THE MARCH: THE JESUITS IN THE PHILIPPINES SINCE THE RESTORATION. The coffee table book is edited by journalist John Nery and published by Ramoncito Ocampo Cruz and Manuel Paras Engwa, all alumni of Xavier University - Ateneo de Cagayan. Supplied photo. 

Media Wise Communications (Muse Books) has just won the 2019 International Association of Business Communicators (IABC) Gold Quill Award of Merit for its latest coffee table book On the March: The Jesuits in the Philippines Since the Restoration under the Publications category, which is included in the Communications Skills division.

Assessed against the IABC Gold Quill Award criteria and IABC’s Seven-point Scale of Excellence, On the March was the only Philippine entry to win in its category.

Cruz expressed great pride not only in its newest titles but also in Media Wise’s latest award, explaining that for a boutique-sized yet agile publication company, it has consistently won more awards, including Philippine Quills, with each title improving from the last.

Ocampo Cruz was first cited with a Merit Award by IABC in the 2017 Gold Quill Awards program for Jesuits In Mindanao: The Mission under the Communications Skills Division (Category 26: Publications).

Cruz will personally receive the award during the Excellence Gala on June 11,  2019, as part of the 2019 IABC World Conference in Vancouver, Canada. The gala will also recognize the winners of the “Best of the Best” awards, “IABC Gold Quill Agency/Team of the Year” awards and other special awards that will be announced later this month. 

In addition to the gala, all awardees would also be recognized in an IABC news release, website, and social media.

The 2019 Gold Quill Award Winners were announced last April 2, 2019, by the IABC in San Francisco, California.

For over 40 years, IABC’s Gold Quill Awards have recognized and awarded excellence in strategic communication worldwide. 

The program is recognized as one of the most prestigious awards programs in the industry.

“Only exceptional work earns an IABC Gold Quill Award,” said Cindy Schmieg ABC, IABC fellow and chair of the awards committee.

“Each entry is rigorously reviewed by multiple experienced communicators from around the world who are trained in applying IABC’s Global Standard of the Communication Profession. The award winners represent our profession of ethical practitioners contributing to organizational outcomes.”

In total, the awards committee selected 202 entries as world-class, with 86 entries earning an Excellence Award and 116 a Merit Award.

Winners come from all over the world, with 10 countries represented in the award winners list. They represent a cross-section of public and private sector organizations, both large and small.

The field was very competitive this year, with almost 700 entries reviewed by more than 250 evaluators.

“We congratulate all the Gold Quill Award winners for their work and dedication to excellence in strategic communication,” said Stephanie Doute CAE, executive director of IABC. “Their success is a testament to the fact that professional communicators create solid business outcomes for their organizations.”

Already the recipient of numerous local and international publishing awards in previous years, Media Wise romped off with four awards at the 16th Philippine Quill Awards held July 9, 2018, at the Manila Marriott in Pasay City for three of its recent coffee-table books: PNB: One Hundred Years of Service Excellence and Saint Andrew's School - One Hundred Years - Pro Deo et Patria (both in the Publications category) and The Maestro of Philippine Basketball (for Writing and Special Projects).

Winners of a Philippine Quill are considered to have achieved the pinnacle in business communication excellence. 

Previously, Jesuits In Mindanao: The Mission won the Philippine Quill Award of Excellence for Publications under the Communications Skills Division at the 2013 Quill Awards, and another at the IABC Asian Pacific Silver Quill Awards held in Singapore last year.

On the March: The Jesuits in the Philippines Since the Restoration was also co-published with a fellow Xavier University - Ateneo de Cagayan alumnus Manuel Paras Engwa, with the proceeds going to the Philippine Jesuit Aid Association (PJAA) for the benefit of the elderly, retired, and infirm Jesuits, and the promotion of Jesuit vocations.

Meantime, PNB: One Hundred Years of Service Excellence also won a Gold Anvil Award at the 52nd Anvil Awards last year.

Ocampo Cruz began his first eight years of education at Xavier Ateneo in 1959 (Grade School, 1967). He moved to St Andrew’s School in Parañaque City (High School, 1971) and the University of Santo Tomas (Bachelor of Fine Arts, major in painting, 1976).

A visual artist, advertising, and publishing professional, Monching (as he is known to friends), is a multi-awarded publisher and artist.

After a stint with Sining Makulay CATV (a cable television company) and national broadsheet Manila Chronicle, he established his own graphic design and publishing company, Media Wise Communications Inc in 1993.

He won his first Catholic Mass Media citation as well as a Philippine Quill award for publishing MUSE, a magazine dedicated to art, culture, and travel. He has had three solo art exhibits.

A proud product of XU Grade School, Monching also gained acclaim for his publication of the Ateneo de Manila University’s sesquicentennial coffee table book, 150: The Ateneo Way by Fr Jose S Arcilla SJ (2009); and Veritas Integras Justita: 75 Years of the Ateneo Law School published for the Ateneo Law School.∎