ABS-CBN swept more than half of the awards given by the University of Santo Tomas (UST) in its annual USTv Students’ Choice Awards as the Kapamilya Network bagged 19 out of 30 categories during the awarding event held recently at the UST Medicine Auditorium.

ABS-CBN’s dominance in this award giving body once again proved that its personalities and programs are truly values-oriented and attuned to Catholic values.

Coco Martin drew the loudest cheer when he received his second USTv award for the Students’ Choice of Actor in a Local Soap Opera because of his dual performance as brothers Alexander and Javier in the hit primetime series “Minsan Lang Kita Iibigin.”

Child superstar Xyriel Manabat, on the other hand, surprised everyone as she beat Angel Locsin and Julia Montes in the Students’ Choice of Actress in a Local Soap Opera category for her portrayal as the young Ana Manalastas in “100 Days to Heaven,” which also won as the Students’ Choice of Local Soap Opera and received a special citation from USTv.

Jhong Hilario and Jodi Sta. Maria were the first recipients of the Students’ Choice of Supporting Actor and Actress in a Soap Opera for their respective roles as Sophia in “100 Days to Heaven” and Gary in “Mara Clara.”

For the 8th consecutive year, drama anthology “MMK” hosted by ABS-CBN President Charo Santos-Concio won in the Drama Program category while “The Buzz” also bagged another win in the Entertainment News Show category.

Meanwhile, “Showtime” and “Gandang Gabi Vice” took home its first ever USTv awards for the Students’ Choice of Reality Show and Students’ Choice of Talk Variety Program respectively.

ABS-CBN acquired programs also emerged victorious as Koreanovela “My Girlfriend is a Gumiho” won as Students’ Choice of Foreign Soap Opera and “Spongebob Squarepants” won Students’ Choice of Full Animated Program.

In the News and Current Affairs (NCA) categories, ABS-CBN won the Students’ Choice of Sports Program for “Sports Unlimited,” Students’ Choice of Public Affairs-Talk Show Program for “The Bottomline” and Students’ Choice of Educational Program for “Matanglawin.” ABS-CBN NCA’s special documentary “Banal” that chronicled the life of now Blessed Pope John Paul II as narrated by Zaijian Jaranilla and Jaime Fabregas was also recognized by UST via a special citation.

When it comes to music, pop star Sarah Geronimo, who graced the USTv stage with two song numbers, bagged the Students’ Choice for Local Music Video Artist award.

Aside from Sarah, “Showtime” first grand winner XB GenSan also rendered a performance to the Thomasian community.

Studio 23 and MYX also contributed to the success of the Kapamilya Network as Anthony Taberna won as Students’ Choice of Male News and Current Affairs Program Host for Studio 23’s “Iba-Balita ni Anthony Taberna” while MYX emerged as Students’ Choice of MTV Channel.

Overall, ABS-CBN is the network of choice of the Thomasian community as it bagged 19 awards compared to GMA with 7 awards and TV5 with only one. This is the second student award giving body that gave ABS-CBN the most number of recognitions following University of the Philippines Los Banos’ Gandingan Awards in last month.

The USTv Student’s Choice Awards is an award giving body spearheaded by the Office of the Secretary General of the University of Santo Tomas, which recently celebrated its 400th year. It aims to give recognition to programs and personalities that promote Thomasian values and in harmony with the Catholic teachings.