{"id":21150,"date":"2023-12-19T13:03:29","date_gmt":"2023-12-19T23:03:29","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/thefilipinochronicle.com\/backup\/?p=21150"},"modified":"2023-12-19T13:03:30","modified_gmt":"2023-12-19T23:03:30","slug":"hfc-columnist-named-distinguished-alumnus-in-the-field-of-journalism","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/thefilipinochronicle.com\/backup\/2023\/12\/19\/hfc-columnist-named-distinguished-alumnus-in-the-field-of-journalism\/","title":{"rendered":"HFC Columnist Named Distinguished Alumnus In The Field Of Journalism"},"content":{"rendered":"\n
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by HFC Staff<\/em>

In its annual grand alumni homecoming this year, the Urdaneta City National High School Alumni Association Inc. named HFC columnist Elpidio Estioko as one of 14 distinguished awardees in various fields during the gala night held at the Urdaneta Convention Center in Urdaneta City, Philippines last November 26.

Estioko was named as a distinguished alumnus in the field of journalism.

The Outstanding Alumni Awardees were: Franco Sabado, Batch \u201992- Community Service; Celso Manangan, Batch \u201975; Edgar F. Olua, Batch \u201988 \u2013 Education; MGen. George Blanco, Batch \u201983 -Public Service \u2013 Philippine Airforce; Violeta J. Buenaventura, Batch \u201983 \u2013 Public Service \u2013 DOLE; Cristi G. Crescencia, Batch \u201983 \u2013 Community Service; Dr. Fe Sumera-Ranada, Batch \u201973 \u2013 Medical Allied; Col. Jessie Cardona, Batch \u201973 \u2013 Public Service \u2013 PNP; Alma Tabayoyong \u2013 Utulo \u2013 Batch \u201873 \u2013 Public Service; Rosalinda Fontanilla \u2013 Paguio, Batch \u201973 \u2013 Community Service; Dra. Clarita Gandia Adalem, Batch \u201960 \u2013 Education; Myrna Ortiz Del Rosario, Batch \u201960 \u2013 Medical Allied; Lailani Fontanila De Vera, Batch \u201963 \u2013 Real Estate, Owner and Broker; and Elpidio Reasonda Estioko, Batch \u201965 \u2013 Journalism.

Estioko was nominated by MGen. Jesus A. Fajardo (Ret.), Batch \u201973 and was endorsed by 10 former classmates from Batch \u201965 \u2013 Bienlogia Zabala Cordingley, Luzviminda V. Tomines, Melecia D. Parayno, Rizalina Garcia, Maria P. Fernandez, Arsenio Dulay, Henry Zabala, Primitivo Raymundo, Rolando S. Consolacion, and Judina Q. Cadiente.

He earned his Bachelor\u2019s degree at the University of the Philippines; holds a Master\u2019s degree in Mass Communications at the Graduate School of the Polytechnic University of the Philippines (PUP); an Assistant Professor 1V at the Institute of Mass Communications, PUP; a long-time educator; and a bemedaled journalist in the Philippines and the United States.

While in college, he became a correspondent for the\u00a0Dagupan Tribune, a local paper in Pangasinan for a year and then joined the\u00a0Rizal Chronicle, also a local paper in the province of Rizal, as its managing editor.

After his 5-year stint with the Rizal Chronicle, he joined the\u00a0Star Group of Publications (Ang Pilipino Ngayon, Philippine Star, Business Star)\u00a0as a daily field reporter covering various beats such as the police, business\/DTI, justice\/courts, and the foreign affairs beats.

He was an active member of the\u00a0National Press Club for five years and was elected as a director,\u00a0Public Relations Society of the Philippines in 1997 until he and his family immigrated to the US.

In the US, he co-founded the\u00a0FilAm Star, a weekly newspaper circulating in the Bay Area based in San Francisco in 2008, as its associate editor and columnist.

The weekly newspaper has a total circulation of 18,000 copies distributed in the newsstands but said paper folded in 2022. When the paper folded, he joined the longest-running FilAm newspaper in the US the\u00a0Philippine News Today as its senior reporter\/columnist up to the present.

Simultaneously, he became a columnist of the Honolulu-based\u00a0Hawaii Filipino Chronicle\u00a0in 2017 to present. The newspaper, in addition to its e-version copy, has a total circulation of 20,000 being circulated in all the cities in the island state of Hawaii.

He was a recipient of two journalism awards in Hawaii given by the\u00a0Hawaii Filipino Chronicle\u00a0and by the state of Hawaii for his contributions to the community through his columns and articles and involvement in community affairs.

He was a recipient of the 6th\u00a0Plaridel Awards,\u00a0Best In News Story,\u00a0given by the\u00a0Filipino-American Press Club\u00a0based in San Francisco in 2017.

He is one of the distinguished judges in the\u00a0Asian American Tell Your Story Video Competition 2023\u00a0sponsored by the Silicon Valley Community Media (SVCM) which started on September 15, 2023 and ends on March 15, 2024.

He is a long-time educator both in the Philippines and in the US. In the Philippines, he was a special lecturer at the Institute of Mass Communications, University of the Philippines-Diliman. Then he joined the Arellano University as its department head putting up the\u00a0Bachelor of Science in Public Relations\u00a0and along with his friends, taught journalism, PR, and communications subjects.

The president of the then-newly opened\u00a0Polytechnic University of the Philippines\u00a0Dr. Nemesio Prudente invited him to join the university as its chief of the Press-Radio-TV section of the University\u2019s Public Affairs department and subsequently becoming the Public Affairs Director.

With the rank of Assistant Professor 1V, he taught at PUP\u2019s\u00a0College of Languages and Mass Communication teaching journalism, broadcast communication, essay writing, news reporting, feature writing, investigative reporting, and communication subjects. He also taught at the\u00a0Graduate School, Pamantasan ng Lungsod ng Maynila\u00a0public relations and communications subjects.

In the US, he taught at the Arts and Sciences department of De Anza College, a community college in Cupertino, California teaching Reading, English Writing, and ESL for ten years as an Adjunct faculty up to his retirement in 2008.

He also had a short stint at the San Jose State University teaching Essay Writing. He became a regular online faculty of Axia College, University of Phoenix for five years teaching business writing and communication subjects online.

At present, he is an Academic Instructor for San Jose Job Corps, a Department of Labor-run program for marginalized youths ages 16 to 24 from 2000 to the present. While in Job Corps, he pioneered the Guajome Park Academy\/Science for Integrated Academy and Technology, a charter school for high school students, for five years. Then, he was the lead teacher of the New Learning Resources Online (NLRO) for seven years.

As to community service, Southern California-based non-profit organization\u00a0The Global Urdanetanianslaunched its scholarship program as the antidote for poverty and the recipients are all poor but deserving high school students from Urdaneta going to college to pursue their undergraduate courses in Urdaneta City\u2019s universities and colleges.

All the 22 TGU scholars are now graduates from their college courses and are now professionals becoming contributing members of society. He was the Chairman of the Board during its initial four-year of existence and at present he is the VP for administration.

In the US, he served the\u00a0Santa Clara County Registrar of Voters\u00a0as precinct inspector in 2008 and after four years as precinct inspector, he was promoted to Field Inspector supervising nine voting precincts until 2022.

In the city of Milpitas, he was a member of the City\u2019s\u00a0Water Task Force\u00a0and was responsible for drafting the communications component of the Task Force which was approved by the City Council.

He was the chair of the\u00a0Library Education and Advisory Commission for 12 years. During his term, he drafted and proposed the city Donation policy for the Milpitas Library which proposal was subsequently approved by the City Council.

He instituted a four-tier donation board which was installed in the lobby of the library listing all donors with their corresponding donations. A picture board of the LEAC commissioners was installed at the walls of the lobby entrance for library users to know their commissioners.

In 2017, he was awarded the\u00a0Heroes Award For Community Servicegiven by then-Assemblymember Kansen Chu, California District 25.

As a final gesture, he published his book\u00a0Unlocking the Chain of Poverty: In Pursuit of the American Dream<\/em>\u00a0which is now available on Amazon, Barnes & Noble and Xlibris Publishing.

It is a book of guts, survival and the will to persevere against all odds at the time of an ailing global economy for new immigrants in the US. The foreword of the book was written by former California Assemblymember Kansen Chu.

The awardees received their ribbons and personalized trophies during the gala night at the Urdaneta Convention Center. In the case of Estioko, who was not able to attend the awarding ceremonies due to a pressing commitment in California, his award was received by his niece Retired Master Teacher 2 from the Urdaneta Central School Gertrudes Estioko duly assisted by another niece Eden Estioko Barbudo-Valdez, a member of the alumni board.

Among the Batch \u201965 attendees who cheered for Estioko were founding president of the alumni association Atty. Mario Bravo; Batch \u201965 president Minda Ventanila Tomines; past Batch \u201965 president Arsenio Dulay; Joy Cabading Delos Reyes; Danny Calacsan, Vicky Calacsan, Eufrosina Tigno, Greg Calacsan, Naty Calvero, Nardito Calvero, Mely Parayno, Gilda Doot Nickel, Judy Cadiente, Herminia Adviento Rontale, Rosa Andrada Manuel, Marcos Ignacio, Eliodoro Calacsan, Fely Sarga, Mila Gatchalian, Bien Zabala Cordingley, Tita Umipig, Aling Garcia, and Henry Zabala, among others.

Estioko joined two other distinguished alumni from Batch \u201965 Atty. Mario Bravo and Joey Sumait.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

by HFC Staff In its annual grand alumni homecoming this year, the Urdaneta City National…<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":21117,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"spay_email":"","_links_to":"","_links_to_target":""},"categories":[20,7],"tags":[],"featured_image_urls":{"full":["https:\/\/i1.wp.com\/thefilipinochronicle.com\/backup\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/12\/Elpidio-Award.jpeg?fit=360%2C640&ssl=1",360,640,false],"thumbnail":["https:\/\/i1.wp.com\/thefilipinochronicle.com\/backup\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/12\/Elpidio-Award.jpeg?resize=150%2C150&ssl=1",150,150,true],"medium":["https:\/\/i1.wp.com\/thefilipinochronicle.com\/backup\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/12\/Elpidio-Award.jpeg?fit=169%2C300&ssl=1",169,300,true],"medium_large":["https:\/\/i1.wp.com\/thefilipinochronicle.com\/backup\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/12\/Elpidio-Award.jpeg?fit=360%2C640&ssl=1",360,640,true],"large":["https:\/\/i1.wp.com\/thefilipinochronicle.com\/backup\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/12\/Elpidio-Award.jpeg?fit=360%2C640&ssl=1",360,640,true],"1536x1536":["https:\/\/i1.wp.com\/thefilipinochronicle.com\/backup\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/12\/Elpidio-Award.jpeg?fit=360%2C640&ssl=1",360,640,true],"2048x2048":["https:\/\/i1.wp.com\/thefilipinochronicle.com\/backup\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/12\/Elpidio-Award.jpeg?fit=360%2C640&ssl=1",360,640,true],"ultp_layout_landscape_large":["https:\/\/i1.wp.com\/thefilipinochronicle.com\/backup\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/12\/Elpidio-Award.jpeg?resize=360%2C640&ssl=1",360,640,true],"ultp_layout_landscape":["https:\/\/i1.wp.com\/thefilipinochronicle.com\/backup\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/12\/Elpidio-Award.jpeg?resize=360%2C570&ssl=1",360,570,true],"ultp_layout_portrait":["https:\/\/i1.wp.com\/thefilipinochronicle.com\/backup\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/12\/Elpidio-Award.jpeg?resize=360%2C640&ssl=1",360,640,true],"ultp_layout_square":["https:\/\/i1.wp.com\/thefilipinochronicle.com\/backup\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/12\/Elpidio-Award.jpeg?resize=360%2C600&ssl=1",360,600,true],"covernews-slider-full":["https:\/\/i1.wp.com\/thefilipinochronicle.com\/backup\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/12\/Elpidio-Award.jpeg?resize=360%2C640&ssl=1",360,640,true],"covernews-slider-center":["https:\/\/i1.wp.com\/thefilipinochronicle.com\/backup\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/12\/Elpidio-Award.jpeg?resize=360%2C500&ssl=1",360,500,true],"covernews-featured":["https:\/\/i1.wp.com\/thefilipinochronicle.com\/backup\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/12\/Elpidio-Award.jpeg?fit=360%2C640&ssl=1",360,640,true],"covernews-medium":["https:\/\/i1.wp.com\/thefilipinochronicle.com\/backup\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/12\/Elpidio-Award.jpeg?resize=322%2C340&ssl=1",322,340,true],"covernews-medium-square":["https:\/\/i1.wp.com\/thefilipinochronicle.com\/backup\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/12\/Elpidio-Award.jpeg?resize=200%2C250&ssl=1",200,250,true]},"author_info":{"info":["admin"]},"category_info":"Featured<\/a> Philippines<\/a>","tag_info":"Philippines","comment_count":"0","jetpack_featured_media_url":"https:\/\/i1.wp.com\/thefilipinochronicle.com\/backup\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/12\/Elpidio-Award.jpeg?fit=360%2C640&ssl=1","jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/thefilipinochronicle.com\/backup\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/21150"}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/thefilipinochronicle.com\/backup\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/thefilipinochronicle.com\/backup\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/thefilipinochronicle.com\/backup\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/thefilipinochronicle.com\/backup\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=21150"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/thefilipinochronicle.com\/backup\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/21150\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":21151,"href":"https:\/\/thefilipinochronicle.com\/backup\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/21150\/revisions\/21151"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/thefilipinochronicle.com\/backup\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/21117"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/thefilipinochronicle.com\/backup\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=21150"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/thefilipinochronicle.com\/backup\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=21150"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/thefilipinochronicle.com\/backup\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=21150"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}