Lina Sagaral Reyes (6 July 1961 – 14 December 2024) was a Filipino journalist. She was an award-winning environmental reporter. Reyes was also an award-winning poet and advocated empowerment for women.

Early life and education

Reyes was born in Villalimpia,

Bohol Bohol (), officially the Province of Bohol (; ), is an island province of the Philippines located in the Central Visayas Regions of the Philippines, region, consisting of the island itself and 75 minor surrounding islands. It is home to Bohola ...

on 6 July 1961 and grew up there. She took courses in journalism and creative writing at

Silliman University Silliman University (also referred to as Silliman or SU) is a private, Protestant, and research university located in Dumaguete City, Philippines. Established in 1901 as Silliman Institute by the Presbyterian Board of Foreign Missions, it is ...

from 1978 until 1983.

Career

Journalism career

Reyes wrote for the

Philippine Daily Inquirer The ''Philippine Daily Inquirer'' (''PDI''), or simply the ''Inquirer'', is an English-language newspaper in the Philippines. Founded in 1985, it is often regarded as the Philippines' newspaper of record. The newspaper is the most awarded broad ...

and Mindanao Gold Star Daily as a

correspondent A correspondent or on-the-scene reporter is usually a journalist or commentator for a magazine, or an agent who contributes reports to a newspaper, or radio or television news, or another type of company, from a remote, often distant, locati ...

Notable coverage

Reyes wrote exposes on sand dredging to accommodate an international resort in 1998; an investigation into an

algal bloom An algal bloom or algae bloom is a rapid increase or accumulation in the population of algae in fresh water or marine water systems. It is often recognized by the discoloration in the water from the algae's pigments. The term ''algae'' encompass ...

Macajalar Bay Macajalar Bay is a deep water bay of the Bohol Sea, located north of the province of Misamis Oriental on Mindanao Island, in the southern part of the Philippines. Cagayan de Oro, being the regional center of Northern Mindanao, is located in one ...

in 2000; and her in-depth probe into corporate pineapple farms and their carbon-negative claims in 2020.

Death

Reyes died at the Northern Mindanao Medical Center in

Cagayan de Oro Cagayan de Oro (abbreviated CDO and officially the City of Cagayan de Oro; ; Bukid language, Binukid: ''Ciudad ta Cagayan de Oro''; ; ) is a Cities of the Philippines#Legal classification, highly urbanized city in the Regions of the Philippi ...

, on 14 December 2024, at the age of 63. Her colleagues at the Cagayan de Oro Press Club said that she was rushed there two days earlier, due to breathing difficulties, and that she was undernourished, with low blood pressure and surged sugar levels.

Awards and honours

* 1987: 1987 Palanca Award for Literature * 1998: Jaime V. Ongpin Award for Investigative Journalism * 2000: National Science and Technology Journalism Grand Prize * 2020: Globe Media Excellence Award

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Reyes, Lina 1961 births 2024 deaths Silliman University alumni Philippine Daily Inquirer people People from Bohol People from Cagayan de Oro Palanca Award recipients Filipino reporters and correspondents Filipino women journalists Filipino women activists Environmental journalists Women environmentalists