Tw!nkle, tw!nkle, little stars. Do you wonder how they reached this far?
To amplify and serve as a platform for the youth, Tw!nkle, the 26th installment of iCommunicate, sheds light on stories of the youth sector during the magazine’s launching at the Sundays Café and Restaurant in Marikina City on March 17.
(Photos by Lheonel Sanchez/The Communicator)
Students of Bachelor of Arts in Journalism (BAJ) 4-1N, AY 2023-2024, dedicated the theme of their magazine to serve as a pathway for people to view the world through the perspective of children—healing the readers’ inner child and standing against the oppression towards the youth sector.
Tw!nkle’s Managing Editor Chris Burnet Ramos said that the magazine’s journey went beyond just a requirement, but a movement that aims to provide innovative, socially progressive, and youth-oriented stories.
“We envision a youthful space in the Philippine media where our stories craft a brighter future for our children. We envision a platform using quality, equity, and protection of the youth. Other than that, we envision an avenue of adults who’ve restored their childhood,” Ramos added.
Even though the majority of children cannot express their stories in-depth, Ramos stated that the magazine will magnify the voices of young people.
Twinkling Kids of Tomorrow
Tw!nkle’s Editor-in-Chief Patricia Lanzagarita led the unveiling of the pages of youth, featuring five cover stories of twinkling kids who reached for the stars and represented the country at a young age.
They were Aleia Aielle Aguilar, 6, Andrew James Mendez, 13, Christian Matt Babista, 6, Marius Constante, 6, and Princess Aquino, 12.
Aguilar is the youngest world Jiu-Jitsu champion at the age of six after the 2022 Abu Dhabi World Jiu-Jitsu Championships, which set the table for other international and local awards.
Mendez’s talent in creative storytelling and reporting allowed him to embark on different journeys across the country; not just winning and representing his school, but, the whole National Capital Region (NCR).
More than a child prodigy, Babista not only excelled in his interests, which were self-taught but also strengthened the ties of his family through the tender love and support he has been receiving from his parents and sister.
Constante, a math wizard and the youngest NCR Palaro participant in 2023, has dominated the competition despite a late start, taking home two gold awards from the International Math Olympiads held in Thailand and Hong Kong.
Aquino, on the other hand, has already accumulated 117 awards from various competitions, including the recent Hong Kong International Science Olympiad 2023 and the Thailand International Mathematical Olympiad 2023-2024.
More than a Magazine
College of Communication (COC) Dean Hemmady Mora applauded the magazine’s theme for sensing the need to “touch the future” by preparing and investing for the next generation.
Lanzagarita thanked the magazine’s sponsors, partners, advisers, college faculty, and the featured children for making the project possible. She also commended her classmates for their dedication and sacrifices despite the inconveniences and hardships the block faced throughout production.
“Tw!nkle is not just a magazine, it is our commitment to make a better and bigger platform for every Filipino kid out there. It is our campaign to be their bigger voices, to be the radical platform needed to expose the oppression, injustices, and harassment against the youth sector,” Lanzagarita asserted.
“We want to amplify their voices and be the safe space that they need to harness their full potential… We also dedicate this magazine to all children out there who are currently under war, displacement, harassment, and abuse—not only locally but internationally,” she added.
Lanzagarita shared that their block drew inspiration from past volumes of iCommunicate that center on an older age range and wanted to shift the magazine’s focus on the bright future of talented children—which is not usually focused on the previous volumes.
iCommunicate is the official magazine of the Polytechnic University of the Philippines - COC produced by seniors of the Department of Journalism.
Article & Graphics: Lourence Angelo Marcellana
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