Published February 14, 2025 by Campus Information Office
The Touchstone, the official campus student publication of Cagayan State University – Sanchez Mira (CSU-SM), made another mark in press confab after eight of its staff reaped awards in the recently concluded 21st Regional Higher Education Press Conference (RHEPC) at Isabela Convention Center, Cauayan City, Isabela on February 11-13, 2025.
𝙍𝙚𝙖𝙥𝙞𝙣𝙜 𝙬𝙝𝙖𝙩 𝘼𝙣𝙘𝙞𝙨𝙤𝙬
Frank Allen Anciso, managing editor, bagged the championship title in Feature Writing (Filipino) and took third place in Column Writing (Filipino).
After making it to the top five in both categories, Anciso will be competing in the upcoming Luzon-wide Higher Education Press Conference (LHEPC) in Quezon Province.
𝘼𝙡𝙢𝙤𝙨𝙩
Making a comeback in News Writing, Rica De Asis, editor-in-chief, placed sixth in the English Category, and Koreena Vidad, Witness and DevCom editor, also placed sixth in the Filipino Category. Lee Shane Pablo, associate editor for broadcast, and Victor Arda, editorial cartoonist, were not able to pass also the curse of ‘one step more to qualify for LHEPC after placing sixth in Copyreading and Headline Writing (Filipino) and Comics Strip Drawing (Filipino), respectively.
𝙇𝙪𝙘𝙠𝙮 (𝙤𝙧 𝙣𝙤𝙩) 7
Moreover, Rommel Jacinto, a graphic artist, made a triple 7th placement in Editorial Cartooning (Digital), Literary Graphics Illustration (Digital), and Comic Strips Drawing (Digital).
𝙁𝙞𝙧𝙨𝙩 𝙝𝙞𝙩, 𝙩𝙤𝙥 10 𝙦𝙪𝙞𝙘𝙠
Despite being first timers in RHEPC, Jheanne Guieb, circulation manager, and Jabar Canapia, chief layout artist, ranked eighth place in Sports Writing (English) and 9th place in Photojournalism (English), respectively.
𝙏𝙎: 𝙏𝙤𝙩𝙖𝙡 𝙎𝙪𝙘𝙘𝙚𝙨𝙨
For the group category, the publication’s first semester issue was awarded 9th Best Tabloid, besting other universities in Region 2. The tabloid also was recognized as 8th Best Opinion Page, 8th Best Feature Page, 9th Best DevCom Page, 8th Best Sports Page, and 9th Best Page Design.
This year’s RHEPC team composing also of Winchester Galapia, Jessa Bacud, Yaoweng Dabalos, and Mikhaello Dikitanan was coached by Ms. Gleann Corpuz, the publication adviser, who was also a service awardee for five years.
This year's RHEPC, with the theme "PRESS PLAY: Campus Journalists as Game Changers in Digital Revolution", was attended by 32 universities with more than 400 student journalists and publication advisers from Cagayan, Isabela, Nueva Vizcaya, Quirino, and Batanes.
Mr. Melvin Gascon, Professor Ben Domingo Jr., Atty. Alfred Roderick Manzano, Dr. Ferdinand Cortez, Mr. Emerson Castaneto, Ms. Wilma Baliton, and Mr. Franklin Castillejo graced the event and served as speaker-judges during the press conference.