A student from University of the Philippines-Diliman, Josiah Israel Albelda, was unanimously chosen by a three-man panel as winner of the 2010 Phoenix Fuel-PBA Press Corps Sports Writing Contest at the Araneta Coliseum.

Albelda emerged No. 1 from among a list of 45 collegiate students who covered Game 3 of the KFC-PBA Philippine Cup semifinal series between the Alaska Aces and the Ginebra Kings.

Serving as judges were Willie Caballes, former PBAPC president and current assistant sports editor of the Manila Bulletin, Gerry Carpio, assistant sports editor of the Philippine Star, and Rickie Santos, former Manila Bulletin sports columnist and now PBA operations and technical committee chief.

Coming in second and third in the contest backed by the PBA Commissioner’s Office, Solar Sports, and Araneta Center were Camille Eugenia Naredo of Ateneo de Manila and Christian Jerome Lagunzad of Polytechnic University of the Philippines.

The first placer will receive P10,000, according to sports writing committee co-chairmen Joel Orellana and Dennis Principe, the second placer P6,000, and the third placer P4,000, along with Phoenix-PBAPC Certificates of Accomplishment.

The awarding of prizes is set at halftime of Game 4 of the Finals between Alaska and Purefoods on Wednesday, with PBA Commissioner Sonny Barrios and Dennis Uy, Phoenix Petroleum president, in attendance.