As the new academic year arrives, the Benildean Press Corps (BPC) welcomed the Editorial Board for P.Y. 2024-2025. This also marks the debut of the position of Assistant Managing Editor, a new role added that will focus on the internal aspects of the organization.
The thorough application process spanned two months, which included an examination, submission of Shadow Tasks, a panel interview, a General Plan of Action (GPOA) presentation, checking of outputs, evaluation, residency hours, and academic standing, as well as careful deliberation by the outgoing editorial board members and associates of the Student Publications Unit (SPU).
There are five Top Editors, namely, ID122 Jan Louis Layacan as Editor in Chief (Acting) from the Export Management program, ID123 Diplomacy and International Affairs student Ryzza Ann Gadiano as Associate Editor for Print (Full-fledged), ID122 Hendriks Valencia as Associate Editor for Digital Media (Acting) who hails from the Real Estate Management program, ID123 Yohanna Elyse Mendoza as Creative Director (Full-fledged) from the Multimedia Arts (MMA) program, and ID123 Jasmin Arsenio as Managing Editor (Full-fledged) also taking up Multimedia Arts.
Meanwhile, there are five writing sections, each with its own assigned editor. ID123 Human Resource Management student Mikaela Amira Barrosa is the new News Editor (Full-fledged), NCAA Season 100 Courtside Reporter and ID122 Export Management sophomore Aleea Sharlene Fedillaga is the new Sports Editor (Full-fledged), and ID123 Maria Isabella Magallanes takes helm as the Feature Editor (Full-fledged) as she takes up Industrial Design. Meanwhile, ID122 Multimedia Arts Mariah Grezelle Corpuz is named Filipino Editor (Full-fledged) and ID122 Film student Cheyenne Symone Atupan is designated as the Literary Editor (Full-fledged).
For the creatives pool, ID122 MMA student John Gilbert Escorial is the new Art & Design Editor (Full-fledged), ID121 Architecture major Hans Oliver Chua is the Photo Editor (Acting), ID123 MMA sophomore Hiro Odamaki is Layout Editor (Full-fledged), ID121 Architecture student Juan Pablo Federico Nunag is named Digital Media Editor (Full-fledged), and ID121 Allan Jasper Garcia is the new Video Editor (Full-fledged), also from the Architecture program.
Lastly, the new added position of Assistant Managing Editor (Full-fledged) is undertaken by ID123 Governance and Public Affairs student Bonn Andrei Cajuday.
In an interview with The Benildean, Cajuday shared his feelings on being the first to take on the role.
“I feel two things which [are] pressure and at the same time, excitement. Pressure, because as stated, this is the first [time this] position [is] to ever be [added] in BPC and that entails a lot of finding out what your position is [...] and what you can give to the organization. At the same time, I feel excited, because as a pioneer, this would hopefully be the first of the many following assistant managing editors for the next publication years,” he shared.
Meanwhile, Layacan shared the general vision of BPC moving forward.
“Our general plan is to ensure that the presence of campus journalism is strongly felt throughout the Benildean community and beyond the reach of our institution. As well as to showcase the artistic talents of BPC that are composed of talented student journalists whether it is through written content, visual arts, photography, and others,” he said.
Layacan added, “I am thinking that we should deepen our engagement with pressing national issues. Ensuring that the voices are heard by the youth [through] covering related topics that affect our society.”
Layacan emphasized the importance of press freedom as a student journalist in BPC. “I wanted to also empower student voices and provide a platform for diverse perspectives. A space where student journalists feel comfortable sharing their stories, sharing their art, sharing their content, their opinions, and experiences, without the fear of being censored or being bashed [...] It is really a shared vision that we wanted to amplify the voices so that we could create a more inclusive and representative dialogue.”
“Art should comfort the disturbed and disturb the comfortable. I think that [quote] in itself is something we should all keep in mind. Upholding press freedom, and upholding the truth coexists. One can not fully happen without the other,” Cajuday remarked.
