Ruben V. Nepales won two awards in the 2012 National Entertainment Journalism (NEJ) Awards, a prestigious U.S.-wide competition presented by the Los Angeles Press Club. The NEJ Awards, presented in a gala last Nov. 18 at LA’s historic Biltmore Hotel, honored Jane Fonda with the Visionary Award which was given to the actress onstage by Robert Redford. Nepales bagged third prize (in a tie with The Hollywood Reporter) in the best columnist – print category, where he also had the honor of being a finalist last year – for his column, “Only In Hollywood,” in the Philippine Daily Inquirer. Nepales also earned third prize in the best book category for his first book, “My Filipino Connection: The Philippines in Hollywood.” Published by Anvil Publishing, Inc., the book was launched successfully this year in Los Angeles, New York, San Francisco, Vancouver and Makati, Philippines. Available at amazon.com, National Book Store and Powerbooks branches in the Philippines, “My Filipino Connection…” is a collection of mostly published pieces that reflects Nepales’ advocacy to spotlight talents of Filipino heritage who are excelling in the world entertainment stage. His subjects include Filipino-Americans, Oscar nominated actress Hailee Steinfeld (“True Grit,” the coming “Romeo and Juliet”) and cinematographer Matthew Libatique (“Black Swan”), Darren Criss and Vanessa Hudgens. Released only last April, the book is now on its second printing. Lorenzo Paran III, in his book review for the Philippine News, wrote, “…Over the years his (Nepales’) column has provided his readers with a Hollywood insider’s perspective with a focus on, and from the angle of, the Pinoy. This, along with Nepales’ fine journalism skills, makes ‘The Philippines in Hollywood’ a source of solid reportage that Filipino readers, whether in the Philippines, the U.S. or other parts of the world, will not find anywhere else.” Asian Journal’s Prosy Delacruz commented, “Ruben V. Nepales’ deftly-written stories of…personalities showcase his masterful craft of writing…The book takes you on a global journey with these Filipino American (and Filipino Canadian) talents, including an executive chef in the White House.” Cristina DC Pastor wrote about the book in The FilAm: “Ruben presents us with this beguiling collection of interviews.” In June, Nepales won third prize, best columnist in the international journalism category, at the 54^th Southern California Journalism Awards, which is one of the oldest and largest journalism competitions in the U.S. An alumnus of the University of Santo Tomas (UST), Nepales received UST’s highest alumni award, The Outstanding Thomasian Alumni (TOTAL) Award in Media, last March 2012. He was one of UST Faculty and Arts Letters’ inaugural AB Gantimpala Awardees (for Media) in 2010. Nepales is the Los Angeles correspondent of the Philippine Daily Inquirer in addition to writing the popular column, “Only IN Hollywood,” where, in addition to profiling tinseltown’s talents, he regularly features Filipinos who are shining in various fields, especially in entertainment. He is also a contributing editor of Balikbayan, a magazine published by Asian Journal for Filipino expats in the U.S. and other parts of the world. Last October, in the Philippine American Press Club’s Plaridel Awards, the first coast-to-coast competition among Filipino-American journalists, Nepales won one of the top prizes for his article in Balikbayan. Nepales is the first Filipino member in the 70-plus year history of the Hollywood Foreign Press Association (HFPA). The journalist also serves on the board of directors of Search to Involve Pilipino Americans (SIPA), a non-profit organization headquartered in Los Angeles’ Historic FilipinoTown that serves Filipino-Americans and other communities through youth development, health, economic and social services. A proud native of Calasiao, Pangasinan, Philippines, Nepales is married to Janet Susan R. Nepales, who is also a journalist and an HFPA member. She was also a finalist in the NEJ Awards’ best column category. They have two children, Bianca Nicole and Rafaella Angelica.