Independent journalist Cris Evert Lato Ruffolo has been accepted to a research fellowship at Renmin University of China (RUC) located in the Haidian District of Beijing, People’s Republic of China.
Ruffolo, who hails from Cebu province, is admitted to the School of Journalism and Communication and is based in China’s capital under a full scholarship that covers tuition, accommodation, monthly living allowance, and comprehensive medical insurance.
RUC’s School of Journalism and Communication is ranked A+ Class discipline in China’s national list for world-class discipline construction. RUC has academic exchange relationships with 306 universities and research institutes in 61 nations and regions.
Ruffolo’s nomination to the Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN)-China Young Leaders Program was endorsed by the Consulate-General of the People’s Republic of China in Cebu.
Ruffolo, a resident of the municipality of Liloan in northern Cebu, is a multi-discipline professional who worked as a journalist in various positions under CDN Digital and Cebu Daily News. She covered business and economics, politics, and lifestyle, and wrote special reports and feature stories as a correspondent and reporter before she became a copy editor and then later, managing editor.
During the early years of her journalism career, she wrote for the Philippine Daily Inquirer, Sun.Star Cebu, and The Freeman.
She is currently working as an independent journalist covering travel, business and economics, and human interest feature stories.
Ruffolo currently serves as chairperson of the non-profit organization, Basadours Inc. which she co-founded in 2012 with young professionals coming from different fields.
Basadours, Inc. organizes community-based storytelling sessions and art workshops in a bid to contribute to literacy development and to spread the love of reading among young learners.
Ruffolo graduated with a degree in Mass Communication from the University of the Philippines Cebu (2007). She earned diplomas in Language and Literacy Education (2016) and Professional Education (2021) from UP Open University and Cebu Technological University respectively.
She is a licensed professional teacher.
Ruffolo studied Chinese Language and Culture at the Confucius Institute-Ateneo De Manila University in 2009 and Fudan University in Shanghai, China in 2010 under the Gokongwei Brothers’ Foundation China Scholarship Program.
At present, she is pursuing graduate studies in Development Communication, Language Teaching, and Literature.
Ruffolo joins postgraduate students from China, Malaysia, Taiwan, Hong Kong, South Korea, Vietnam, and Poland in a class meeting held at the Lide Building of Renmin University of China in Beijing.
Ruffolo is a multi-awarded journalist, community volunteer, and youth leader having received recognitions from the Globe Media Excellence Awards, University of the Philippines Cebu Alumni Association, Philippine National Volunteer Service Coordinating Agency, The Outstanding Students of the Philippines, and the Cebu City Government, to name a few.
Under the ASEAN-China Young Leaders Program, Ruffolo will take courses and participate in workshops on journalism and communication research design, media technology applications, global news communication, English news writing, communication effectiveness measurement, and searching/using academic resources.
Taking these courses will enable her to work on a research paper on how social media platform Tiktok is being utilized by peer support groups in Cebu to combat online sexual exploitation of children.
As part of this fellowship, she will also be working on a Binisaya’ng Sugbuanon-English-Chinese children’s storybook that will tackle the strong cultural and familial ties between the Philippines and China.
The ASEAN-China Young Leaders Program is an initiative to strengthen educational cooperation and people-to-people ties between China and ASEAN.