The Gold Quill Awards are a global celebration of excellence in communication. For IABC Philippines, the Awards’ standards and brand have grown over the last several years in the country through the Philippine Quill Awards with partnerships that include media exposure.

At the awards night and at pre-awarding how-to-join sessions, entrants and winners are introduced to the standards of the IABC Gold Quill Awards and encouraged to join.

“It is thrilling to see the number of entries to the Gold Quill Awards and winners from the country increasing through the years. The award has built quite a following, including having viewers watch the highlights shown on television,” Ritzi Villarico-Ronquillo, APR, IABC Fellow and chair of the IABC 2021 Awards Committee, says.

We spoke with Villarico-Ronquillo to learn how the Gold Quill Awards became a primetime event in the country through the Philippine Quill Awards and the Philippine Student Quill Awards over the last few years, plus how IABC Philippines began engaging students in the process. 

Can you tell us how the Philippine Quill Awards television partnership came to life and why you think these awards mean so much to communicators?

The IABC Philippines chapter has worked hard over the last several years, publicizing the awards, conducting seminars and coaching sessions, hosting events and holding the Philippine Quill Awards annually. The awards night has some 1,000 attendees: awardees from the top corporations in the country, institutions and foundations, government officials, C-suite and other executives, agencies and their clients, media, sponsors, evaluators, chapter leaders and members.

The chapter partnered with the ABS-CBN News Channel (ANC), a 24-hour cable TV news channel in the Philippines. In the initial year of the media partnership, the Philippine Quill Awards ceremony was aired as a 30-minute program on primetime on ANC with replays in other time slots for a week. The program was also aired internationally to areas with large Filipino communities.

The media partnership package and values included in various years: top winners and a chapter official as guests interviewed on an ANC show, coverage and airing of the awards program and inclusion in primetime news. ANC news anchors were invited to emcee the awards night. It later became an interstitial aired in different time slots for a certain number of times. This was like a five-minute voice over report that reported the winners of the Top Awards and the Special Awards, and interviewed chapter officials and select winners. 

ANC is a respected channel in the Philippines, and it was a match with the chapter and its being an organization of business communicators. Two chapter leaders were executives in the media corporation who helped see the partnership through, ensuring it was fair and professional for both parties. The partnership worked well and we continued to renew the partnership.

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Watch a TV segment online here from ANC, celebrating the 17th Annual Philippine Quill Awards in 2019.

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The Philippine Student Quill Awards were born from the annual Philippine Quill Awards. Can you tell us more about the student program?

We launched the Philippine Student Quill Awards program in 2012 to give students — the next generation of communicators — a jumpstart, before they transitioned into professional life. That year we began orientation sessions for prospective student entrants, telling them about the Gold Quill Awards and the Philippine Student Quill Awards. We were happy with the enthusiastic response we got from students, professors and deans. The first Philippine Student Quill Awards were held in 2013, the chapter’s 30th anniversary.

Year after year, the participation has grown, including from non-communication students and colleges and universities outside of Metro Manila. Among our winners were engineering students from a state university who submitted well-produced videos and other works on science topics. Then there were also students from a technical college who won and attended the awards with their professors, advisers and dean.

The Philippine Student Quill Awards rites for students has become a separate event in the afternoon for some 250 students, professors, deans and parents. Some of these winners are now Philippine Quill Awards winners as professionals. We are proud to see them go on stage to receive their awards.

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Learn more about how the Philippine Student Quill Awards began in this video online here.

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Catch the recognition rites of the 18th Philippine Quill Awards and the 8th Philippine Student Quill Awards on 25 March 2021 at 6 p.m., Philippine time, featuring a special mention of the 2020 Philippine CEO EXCEL awardees. Click here to watch.

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