Kara David

Kara David is a Filipino journalist and television host. She is the news anchor of News to Go at GMA Network, as well as a host and writer for i-Witness. She recently began hosting Power House. She is founder and president of Project Malasakit, a foundation that helps the people she has featured in her documentaries.^[1]

David was the only woman named in 2007’s Ten Outstanding Young Men (TOYM) award.^[2] In 2010, she was awarded the Outstanding Women in the Nation’s Service (TOWNS award).^[3] David won the Peabody Award,^[4] the second Filipino to win this award.

Biography

David was born to Professor Emeritus Randy David of the University of the Philippines Diliman and former Chairperson of the Civil Service Commission Karina Constantino-David.^[5][6] She graduated cum laude from the University of the Philippines, Diliman with the degree of Bachelor of Arts in Broadcast Communication. She then worked as a production assistant and researcher for GMA Network in 1995. She was promoted as writer/researcher for the program “Emergency” and hosted “Huling Hirit”, a regular two-minute segment in the daily news doing adventure-oriented and inspiring features.

David also hosted several public affairs programs such as Case Unclosed, a documentary program that investigates unsolved cases and mysteries. She hosted OFW Diaries, a public service program that reaches out to Filipino overseas workers. Currently, she is the news anchor of News To Go, a morning news program on GMANewsTV.

Documentary films

David has almost a hundred documentaries to her name. In “Bitay” she helped stop the execution of a convict on death row. For this she was honored as Investigative Journalist of the Year by the Rotary Club of Manila. In the documentary “Selda Inosente”, David entered the world of children born and bred in prison. The film won her the UNICEF Child Rights Award, besting more than a hundred entries from all over the world.

In “Buto’t Balat” David explored the state of malnutrition in the country and the reality that extreme inequalities and the absence of a concrete and cohesive nutrition and population policy has resulted in a state not far from what occurs in Africa. For this documentary she was chosen as one of twenty finalists for the Japan Prize. She won a silver medal at the US International Film & Video Festival. It also won Best Social Awareness Program at the Asian Television Awards.

Ambulansyang de Paa is about the lack of access to health services of the Mangyan tribe, who live in Mindoro Oriental. David documented the plight of the Mangyans, who have to carry their sick in hammocks for eight hours just to get to the nearest hospital. This documentary won the Peabody Award. David is the second Filipino to win this recognition.^[7]

In 2007, David was chosen as one of the Outstanding Young Men (TOYM) of the country and was honored as Broadcast Journalist of the Year. In 2011, she was chosen as one of the Ten Outstanding Women in the Nation’s Service (TOWNS).^[8]

Project Malasakit

In 2002, David founded Project Malasakit – a non-stock non-profit foundation that sends poor Filipino children to school.^[9] It embarks on community outreach programs that gives food, medicine and school supplies to remote communities that do not have access to basic government service.^[10] Project Malasakit now has 15 scholars (most of them child laborers and victims of child abuse). It has helped more than 800 families through its quarterly outreach programs. David has also embarked on long-term projects for communities.

“Paraisong Uhaw”, her documentary on waterless communities in Masbate, has led to the construction of 10 water wells in the municipality of Balud. David and her Project Malasakit team also constructed a sustainable solar power facility in a community of Mangyans in Mindoro Province.

International awards

Local awards

Career

References

External links

• http://karapatria.com
• https://www.facebook.com/project.malasakit
• http://www.gmanetwork.com/news/video/reporters/karadavid
• http://sigmaalphanu.com
• http://karadavid.wordpress.com