(EDITOR'S NOTE: Corrected 8th paragraph to read: He drove a pedicab on the side to support himself while in high school at the Western Visayas College of Science and Technology in Iloilo City; and 10th paragraph to read: He said he decided to leave the vocation when he met a postulant (one studying to be a nun) in the US, where "our relationship developed while working as missionaries there." He said he and his wife were married in Davao.)
For his illustration titled “Against the Big One” that came out in the April 9 edition of The Manila Times, cartoonist Steven Pabalinas won Best Editorial Cartoon in the 39th Catholic Mass Media Awards (CMMA) on October 25.
This was the second year in a row that Pabalinas won the award.
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TMT editorial cartoonist Steven Pabalina[/caption]
A former seminarian, Pabalinas said he knew how to balance politics, humor and Christian values in his works, which, he said, were embodied in this year’s CMMA theme, “Communicating hope and trust in our time.”
The artist still dreams of drawing something inspirational.
“Something that inspires hope, not just politics with a Christian message, but something that inspires anyone who sees it to live uprightly,” he told The Manila Times a day after receiving his trophy during the awarding rites at the CCP Complex.
Pabalinas placed his trophy among the collections in the office of The Manila Times President and Chief Executive Officer Dante “Klink” Ang 2nd.
The 39-year-old artist, a native of Bacolod City, started working at the age of 14 as an illustrator for Graphic Arts Services Inc. and Atlas Publications, for “Shocker Comics” and “Comedy Comics.”
He drove a pedicab on the side to support himself while in high school at the Western Visayas College of Science and Technology in Iloilo City .
He then got schooled at the Franciscan Institute of Asia in Parañaque City and the Asian Christian Training School in Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia.
He said he decided to leave the vocation when he met a postulant (one studying to be a nun) in the US, where "our relationship developed while working as missionaries there." He said he and his wife were married in Davao.
Pabalinas, who joined The Manila Times in 2009, also does The Sunday Times Magazine cartoons “Pango Planet.”
He has published two books – “Divine Comedy Comics” which he published on his own, and “Pango Planet Volume 1,” published by The Manila Times.