(Joseph Israel Laban, extreme right, with President Noynoy and GMA's Jessica Soho).He was part of the original cast of "Mara Unduk", Teatro Balangaw's premiere presentation in December of 1992. Joseph Israel Laban of Marinduque National High School Class of 1997 and UP Class of 2001, went on to become a managing producer of GMA news and public affairs programs.
Joseph is back in the Philippines after further studies at New York University (NYU), under a Fulbright Scholarship Program, that educational exchange program sponsored by the U.S. government to increase mutual understanding between the people of the United States and the people of other countries. Fulbright scholars are chosen for their academic merit and leadership potential to engage in further studies, teachings,conduct research and contribute to finding solutions to shared concerns.
Laban's achievements to-date include a Gold World Medal for Best Human Interest Story by the 2008 New York Festivals for Television for the documentary "Batang Kalakal" and a Silver Screen Award at the 2008 US International Film and Video Festival.
(Laban with the acclaimed Filipino broadcast journalist, Cheche Lazaro)As part of GMA programs "The Probe Team" and "Reporter's Notebook", one of his early works as writer, managing producer and director was an investigation into "ghost projects" in Marinduque some years ago.
His latest work, "Ako si Edsa" for the new GMA News TV program Front Row was shown during said program's initial presentation last Saturday, March 5 at 10:00 pm.
(Laban in Riyadh)
