Fifth-grader Coleen Cabie Recede of the Immaculate Heart of Mary Academy of Minglanilla, Cebu received a gold medal in the recently concluded Division Schools Press Conference (elementary level) at the Lamberto Te Cultural Center in Daanbantayan in the north of the island province.
Recede, a consistent academic top lister since Grade 1, received the medal in editorial writing where the contestants were told to write about the Naga landslide caused by a heavy rainfall on Sept. 20 which killed at least 78 people with five others still missing.
The tragedy was the second deadly landslide in five days, the first in Itogon, Benguet, on Sept. 15, triggered by another powerful typhoon which left at least 35 people dead.
The news and editorial writing category, which involved some 50 students from the different public and private schools in Cebu, was held on Oct. 17 and 18. It is not clear when the regional level competition will be held.
Recede, whose sister pharmacist Tai Ching Kate won 1st Place (national level) in the New York Times Collegiate Journalist Training Camp earlier this year, was chosen by her coach Mrs. Johnelyn Marie Valleser to represent her school.
Recede, daughter of Ponciano Recede of Lipa City, Batangas and the former Mary Jane Cabie of Minglanilla, tackled the Naga tragedy, pointing to its causes and lessons to be derived from the landslide.