Adphoto's Master Photographer, John Chua, received an award of recognition at the recent 20th anniversary celebration of Canon Philippines for leading Canon’s participation in the “Bachang” advocacy, an effort to revive the bayanihan spirit to rebuild damaged rice terraces in Batad, Ifugao. For this corporate social responsibility project, Canon received the prestigious 2014 Anvil Award of Excellence from the Public Relations Society of the Philippines.
Since 1970, when he first photographed Northern Luzon’s world-famous rice terraces and their remarkable builders, the Ifugaos, John has been involved with many socio-civic projects to help preserve their landscape, traditions and rituals. Seeing that in recent years, rice terraces have been damaged by typhoons, neglect and diminishing community spirit, he actively led the “Batad Weekend Warriors” a motley group of more than a thousand volunteers from all over the Philippines, from the city - including those from Canon Philippines - as well as from the mountains, to help restore damaged portions of the Batad Rice Terraces, thus reviving the community spirit that Ifugaos call Bachang (or Vadchang).
