Howie Severino

Last updated

Howie Severino
Howie Severino - 2018 (cropped).jpg
Severino in January 2018
Born
Horacio Gorospe Severino

(1961-07-18) July 18, 1961 (age 62)
Manila, Philippines
Education Tufts University, (BA)
University of Sussex, (MA)
OccupationJournalist
Years active1988–present
Television i-Witness host
News to Go anchor
SpouseIpat Luna
ChildrenAlon Severino
Parent(s)Amb. Rodolfo Severino and Tati Gorospe Severino
Awards PMPC Star Awards for TV
Rotary Journalism Awards

Horacio "Howie" Gorospe Severino (born July 18, 1961) is a Filipino broadcast journalist, anchor, host, documentarist and podcaster who is currently working in GMA Network. He is best known for his work with the Philippine Center for Investigative Journalism, The Probe Team , and i-Witness . He has worked in print, television, and online media.

Contents

Background

Education

He has said he wanted to be a journalist ever since he was in fifth grade. [1] He graduated from Tufts University in Massachusetts with a history degree, magna cum laude , and received his master's degree from University of Sussex in the United Kingdom in Environment, Development, and Policy.

As a college student in Boston in the early 1980s, he got to know Benigno Aquino Jr., then in exile. After Aquino's assassination in 1983, Severino returned home to teach at his alma mater Ateneo de Manila High School, and join the anti-Marcos movement. He was arrested while taking pictures of a police dispersal of a student barricade in front of Ateneo campus on January 25, 1985, the same day as Lino Brocka and Behn Cervantes. Severino was detained for eight days in Fort Bonifacio, which was at the time a dreaded army camp and not yet the high-end commercial and residential hub that it is today.

Career

Severino was a campus journalist at Tufts University for all four years in college. In the Philippines, he began his journalism career as a newspaper reporter and magazine writer in 1988. He became a co-founder of the Philippine Center for Investigative Journalism (PCIJ) in 1989; established himself as a leading documentary filmmaker; and, in 2009, was named editor-in-chief of GMA News Online, GMA Network's news website. He stepped down in 2014 after five years, and was appointed GMA Network's vice president for Professional Development in May 2014.

On TV, he was on Probe Team for four years with Cheche Lazaro before joining I-Witness , now one of the longest-running public affairs programs in the Philippines.

He set up the PCIJ's Environment Desk, built credentials as a leading environmental journalist, and worked closely with Ramon Magsaysay awardee Sheila Coronel. He still produces environmental documentaries for I-Witness and often appears on television riding his mountain bike.

Online, he was the first blogger on GMA's web platforms. His journalistic exploration of emerging media culminated in 2009 with his appointment as GMA Network's vice president for Multimedia Journalism [2] and his subsequent assignment to helm GMA News Online.

As GMA News Online's editor-in-chief, Severino and his team pioneered in the Philippines the use of Google Maps for disaster coverage, Twitter for breaking news, and crowdsourcing for news gathering.

Along with fellow I-Witness documentarist Kara David, Severino became the anchor of GMA News TV's noontime newscast News to Go in 2011, until its conclusion on 2019.

On April 8, 2021, he started hosting his own podcast The Howie Severino Podcast. It is the first podcast launched by GMA News and Public Affairs. [3]

Personal life

Severino's parents are Ambassador Rodolfo Severino Jr., former secretary-general of the Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN) from 1998 to 2002, and Tati Gorospe Severino. a former schoolteacher and administrator.

Severino is married to Ipat Luna, an environmental lawyer and TOYM awardee, with whom he has a son, Alon Roberto. In 2012, Alon, 10, was named Best Child Performer by the Aliw Awards for his role in Totong Hilot, a full-length play staged in the Cultural Center of the Philippines during the Virgin Labfest.

On April 7, 2020, it was revealed that Severino was the country's 2828th COVID-19 patient during the COVID-19 pandemic in the Philippines. [4] He later recovered from the coronavirus after being in the hospital for eleven days. [5] A special i-Witness documentary about his experience as a COVID-positive patient; entitled Ako si Patient 2828, aired on GMA on April 18, 2020. [6]

Awards and citations

Severino is one of the Philippines' most awarded journalists. His awards include:

In 2007, Severino was inducted into the Rotary Club of Manila's Journalism Hall of Fame [7] after he was named Broadcast Journalist of the Year twice and Investigative Journalist of the Year twice.

In October 2007, GMA Network released Ten Years of Howie Severino, [8] a DVD compilation of ten of his most notable documentaries. Included on the DVD was Huling Hala-bira, a documentary about a family living under the railroad tracks in Pandacan, Manila, which won second prize that same year in a United Nations-sponsored international broadcast competition. [9]

In a 2009 trust survey conducted by Reader's Digest magazine, [10] Severino was sixth on a list of most trusted Filipinos.

People Asia Magazine, in its June–July 2012 issue, [11] named Severino one of that year's "Men Who Matter".

See also

Related Research Articles

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Lino Brocka</span> Filipino National Artist for Film

Catalino Ortiz Brocka was a Filipino film director. He is widely regarded as one of the most influential and significant filmmakers in the history of Philippine cinema. He co-founded the organization Concerned Artists of the Philippines (CAP), dedicated to helping artists address issues confronting the country, and the Free the Artist Movement. He was a member of the Coalition for the Restoration of Democracy.

<i>Probe</i> (Philippine TV program) Philippine documentary television show

Probe Profiles is a Philippine documentary television show broadcast by ABS-CBN, GMA Network and ABC. Hosted by Cheche Lazaro, it premiered on March 6, 1987. The show concluded on June 30, 2010.

Sheila S. Coronel is a Philippines-born investigative journalist and journalism professor. She is one of the founders of the Philippine Center for Investigative Journalism (PCIJ). In 2006, she was named the inaugural director of the Stabile Center for Investigative Journalism at Columbia University's Graduate School of Journalism. In 2014, she was appointed the School's Academic Dean, a position she held until the end of 2020.

<i>Saksi</i> Philippine television show

Saksi (transl. Witness) formerly known as Saksi: GMA Headline Balita and Saksi: Liga ng Katotohanan is a Philippine television news broadcasting show broadcast by GMA Network. Originally anchored by Mike Enriquez and Karen Davila, it premiered on October 2, 1995, on the network's evening line up replacing GMA Balita. Arnold Clavio and Pia Arcangel currently serve as the anchors. It is the longest running news broadcasting show of GMA Network.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Jessica Soho</span> Filipino journalist and host (born 1964)

Maria Jessica Aspiras Soho is a Filipino broadcast journalist affiliated with GMA Network. She is the host of the news magazine program Kapuso Mo, Jessica Soho (2004–present) on GMA, and was the news anchor for State of the Nation on GTV from 2011 to 2021.

Victoria "Vicky" Torres Morales-Reyno is a Filipino broadcast journalist and television presenter. She is best known for being one of the anchors of GMA Network's early evening newscast 24 Oras with Mel Tiangco and Emil Sumangil as well as for being the host of the Saturday afternoon documentary-drama show Wish Ko Lang!. For hosting Wish Ko Lang!, she got the "Best Public Service Program Host" award during the 29th PMPC Star Awards for Television in 2015 given by the Philippine Movie Press Club. She previously anchored Saksi, the late news program of GMA Network, from 1999 to 2014. In GTV, she hosts a magazine news program entitled Good News Kasama si Vicky Morales, which was started in 2011 when GTV was previously known as GMA News TV.

<i>i-Witness</i> Philippine television show

i-Witness, formerly i-Witness: The GMA Documentaries is a Philippine television documentary show broadcast by GMA Network and GMA News TV. Originally hosted by Vicky Morales, Luchi Cruz-Valdes, Mike Enriquez, Cheche Lazaro and Jessica Soho, it premiered on January 18, 1999. Kara David, Howie Severino, Sandra Aguinaldo, Atom Araullo, Mav Gonzales and John Consulta currently serve as the hosts. It is the longest-running documentary show in the Philippines.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Kara David</span> Filipino journalist and television host (born 1973)

Kara Patria Constantino David-Cancio is a Filipino journalist, host, professor, and educational administrator. She is known because of investigative and multi-awarded documentaries in i-Witness. These documentaries are "Bitay, “Selda Inosente”, "Buto't Balat", and Ambulansiyang de Paa.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Kim Atienza</span> Filipino broadcaster and host (born 1967)

Alejandro Ilagan Atienza, known professionally as Kim Atienza or Kuya Kim, is a Filipino television host, weather anchor and former politician. Prior to become the resident weather anchor for TV Patrol, Atienza served as councilor of the 5th District of Manila for three terms. He is known for his famous trivia stints on TV and radio, especially in his own show, Matanglawin. He is currently working for GMA Network.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Martin Andanar</span> Filipino television personality and broadcaster

Jose Ruperto Martin Marfori Andanar is a Filipino television news personality, former news anchor, radio commentator, podcaster, voice-over artist and a columnist. He served as the former secretary of the Presidential Communications Office of the Philippines under the Duterte administration and is now CGTN anchor.

<i>News to Go</i> Philippine television show

News to Go is a Philippine television news broadcasting show broadcast by GMA News TV. Hosted by Kara David and Howie Severino, it premiered on February 28, 2011 and worldwide on GMA News TV International. The show concluded on May 31, 2019.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Jiggy Manicad</span> Filipino journalist

Rodrigo Defeo Manicad Jr., popularly known as Jiggy Manicad, is a Filipino television news producer/reporter and newscaster.

Timothy James "TJ" M. Dimacali, is a Filipino science fiction writer and a science journalist. He is the first Filipino and first Fulbright scholar to attend the Massachusetts Institute of Technology's Graduate Program in Science Writing. He is also a science education advocate.

Maria Perpetua Concepcion Sison Del Rosario-Escudero, professionally known as Connie Sison, is a Filipino broadcast journalist, reporter, host and news anchor. She is an anchor of the GTV newscast Balitanghali since 2014, and was one of the hosts of GMA Network's morning show Unang Hirit from 2010 until 2023. She also hosts Pinoy M.D. and its radio counterpart on Super Radyo DZBB 594, Pinoy M.D. sa Dobol B. Her hosting skills in Pinoy M.D. got her a Bantog award for Media Practitioner in Television given by Department of Science and Technology in 2018.

Sandra Aguinaldo is a Filipina television news anchor journalist, writer and documentarian. She is best known as one of the news reporters of 24 Oras and one of the hosts of I-Witness. In 2015, Aguinaldo together with her co-hosts in I-Witness won as the Best Documentary Program Hosts during the 29th PMPC Star Awards for Television.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Vera Files</span> News organization in the Philippines

Vera Files is a non-profit online news organization in the Philippines, known for its institutionalized role in fact-checking false information in the Philippines, and as one of the news organizations most prominently targeted by intimidation and censorship due to its critical coverage of the Philippine government. It is part of the International Fact-Checking Network of the Poynter Institute and is one of Facebook's two Philippine partners in its third-party fact-checking program.

Jose R. Taruc III is a Filipino journalist and former television news reporter and presenter for GMA Network. Together with Jessica Soho, he won a George Foster Peabody award for his documentary produced for Brigada Siete. In 2019, he moved to One News on airing his program Ride PH.

"Naging Mahirap", also referred to by its opening line "Nakaligo Ka Na Ba sa Dagat ng Basura", is a Filipino-language campaign jingle of Senator Manuel "Manny" Villar" for the 2010 Philippine presidential election. Written by Merlee Jayme, the jingle was released with its accompanying television advertisement in late 2009, sung by the Baseco Kids. Jayme cited Villar's speech at the Manila Overseas Press Club on October 29, 2009 as the primary inspiration for the lyrics of the song, which emphasizes the impoverished background of the presidential candidate. It was later sung by Sarah Geronimo in February 2010 upon her endorsement of Villar at the launching of the political youth group Katropa, established by Villar's daughter Camille.

MV <i>Karagatan</i> incident

The July 1972 MV Karagatan incident was an unsuccessful attempt by the New People's Army — the armed wing of the Marxist–Leninist–Maoist Communist Party of the Philippines (CPP) — to smuggle armaments from China into the Philippines via the ship MV Karagatan. The incident is notable for having been cited by President Ferdinand Marcos as one of his rationales for imposing martial law in the Philippines in September 1972.

References

  1. Alma Anonas-Carpio (August 17, 2006). "Howie Severino: The Quintessential Journalist". Philippine Star. Archived from the original on June 2, 2012. Retrieved September 18, 2012.
  2. "GMA-7 announces new post for Howie Severino". Rappler. May 5, 2014. Retrieved October 18, 2019. "GMA-7 announces new post for Howie Severino". Rappler. May 5, 2014. Retrieved October 18, 2019.
  3. Showbiz, Manila Standard (April 12, 2021). "Howie Severino features insightful conversations in new podcast". Manila Standard. Retrieved December 2, 2022.
  4. Iglesias, Iza (April 7, 2020). "Veteran broadcast journalist Howie Severino, 'Covid-19 survivor'". The Manila Times. Retrieved April 7, 2020.
  5. Severino, Howie (April 7, 2020). "Howie Severino: I am COVID-19 Patient 2828". GMA News Online. Retrieved April 7, 2020.
  6. San Juan, Ratziel (April 17, 2020). "'Ako si Patient 2828': Howie Severino shares COVID-19 bout in 'i-Witness' documentary". Philstar.com. Retrieved April 17, 2020.
  7. Howie Severino (June 21, 2007). "Gratitude". GMA Network . Retrieved September 18, 2012.
  8. "Ten Years of Howie Severino". GMA Network. March 30, 2012. Archived from the original on December 3, 2012. Retrieved September 18, 2012.
  9. Jocelyn Dimaculangan (July 18, 2007). ""I-Witness" Documentary Festivals takes place on July 21 and 28". Philippine Entertainment Portal. Retrieved September 18, 2012.
  10. "Reader's Digest's 'Most Trusted Filipinos'". Manila Bulletin. March 15, 2010. Archived from the original on November 30, 2011. Retrieved September 18, 2012.
  11. Lapeña, Carmela. "Howie Severino one of People Asia's 'Men Who Matter'". GMA News Online. Retrieved September 20, 2012.