MANILA: The college student who won a photography contest with an entry he lifted from someone else may be suspended by his university and face legal action by the organisers.
Mark Joseph Solis, political science graduate and public administration student of the University of the Philippines in Diliman, was stripped of the top prize yesterday in the 2nd Calidad Humana National Essay Photography Competition initiated by the embassy of Chile. The prize will go to the second placer, also a UP student – for a black and white shot of children in a low-income community.
Contest organisers rejected a suggestion by the real photographer of the winning entry – Brazil-based social worker Gregory John Smith – to award the top prize to his foundation, which assists street children in Rio de Janeiro and Manila.
The Philippine star
