And the streak goes on.

MANILA, Philippines - The Philippine STAR’s winning streak continues... Ulysses Ang, one of the regular contributors in The Philippine STAR’s Business Motoring section, won two awards at the recently concluded Henry Ford Awards (HFA) – keeping The Philippine STAR’s streak as the only media outfit to have had representation in the winner’s circle every year alive. Now on its 11th staging, the HFA is part of the commitment of Ford Group Philippines to give due recognition to journalists who have showed unparalleled excellence in automotive journalism and have made a significant contribution to growing the automotive industry and influencing Filipino consumers in their decisions.

Ang’s winning piece, Chariot of the Gods, was originally published in the August 10, 2011 issue of The Philippine STAR. It was the first feature story done by any Filipino journalist on the new Ford Explorer and it shed light on the author’s experiences with the vehicle through two continents. Chariot of the Gods won for Best Ford Group Philippines Feature Story even as its accompanying photograph (also taken by Ang) won for Best Ford Group Philippines Published Photograph.

“We are proud to host the annual Henry Ford Awards and celebrate the quality and professionalism of automotive journalism in the Philippines. We recognize that the talent in the Philippines is world class and we are grateful to all the journalists who support the industry by providing consumers with accurate news information,” said Ford Group Philippines President Randy Krieger.

An esteemed panel of judges lent their time and expertise to this year’s Henry Ford Awards to carefully evaluate all entries through a rigorous two-phase process.

The Phase One judges included representatives from the academe: Danilo Arao (Assistant Vice-President for Public Affairs, University of the Philippines), Dr. Francince Racho (Assistant Professor and Vice Dean, School of Communications, University of Asia and the Pacific) and Severino Sarmenta, Jr. (Chair, Department of Communication, Ateneo de Manila University).

Phase Two judges were Max Borromeo (Ford Dealer Principal), Conrado de Quiros (Writer and Columnist, Philippine Daily Inquirer) and Neal McCarthy (Communications Director, Ford ASEAN).

HFA 2011 also solicited the help of special judges who are experts in their field. These included ANC Host and Producer, David Celdran; advertising photographer John Chua of Adphoto, Inc.; and Bob Cruz, creative director of J. Walter Thompson Philippines.

We at The Philippine STAR’s Business Motoring section salute and congratulate Ang and the rest of our contemporaries who were given the thumbs up this year by the HFA 2011 panel of judges. Here’s to another year worth of quality journalism for the benefit of our readers!