ABS-CBN journalists @jeffcanoy and @chiarazambrano bagged this year's Gold World Medal for "Di Ka Pasisiil" in the New York Festivals for Best in Continuing News Coverage. | via @bevllorente pic.twitter.com/EmKJovsk0x

— ABS-CBN News (@ABSCBNNews) April 11, 2018

MANILA (UPDATED) - ABS-CBN's documentary on the Marawi siege bagged this year's Gold World Medal in the New York Festivals - World's Best TV & Films.

'Di Ka Pasisiil' (Never Shall Be Conquered) won the 2018 World's Best Television & Films competition under the category of Continuing News Coverage. It also received a finalist certificate under the News and Current Affairs category.

An episode of ANC's "Mukha" documentary series, 'Di Ka Pasisiil features footage from the war zone and interviews by ABS-CBN News reporters Chiara Zambrano and Jeff Canoy. Both share the stories of survival and struggle of not just the soldiers but also of civilians.

• Di Ka Pasisiil

"We accepted this award not just for us but for everyone who shared their stories with us," Zambrano said.

Winning an award was far from their minds when they were doing the story, she said. Their goal was to get the story out.

"To let the world know that the Philippines has this kind of problem, but also we have these Filipinos who displayed honesty and bravery and courage and kindness in the midst of all the evil that we saw," she said.

They too had time restrictions to follow and could not just include all the stories which she described as "limitless."

"At the time we were doing 'Di Ka Pasisiil, the war was still ongoing and we had to decide: Should we focus on what was going on inside the battle area or should we also go to the IDPs, the refugees that were outside?" she said.

During that period, Zambrano said they felt that the public needed to see more of the atrocity, the destruction, and the actual battle that was going on.

"We felt that would put the whole war and all its consequences into proper context," she said.

Prior to the Marawi siege, Zambrano covered the Maute group for two years and it helped provide the public with the background of the people responsible for the attack.

"We just had to put all the puzzle pieces together and find new people who would give new perspectives to the war that essentially brought the Philippines down on its knees while it was happening," she said.

A Chevening scholar studying documentary by practice at the Royal Holloway, University of London, Zambrano said she left the Philippines to pursue her studies while the war was still going on in Marawi.

She returned to Marawi when she came home for a couple of weeks during the Christmas holiday.

"I went to Marawi not as a journalist but as someone who has been there to see it before it actually began; someone who became friends with a lot of people there."

"That's why when we accepted the award, we made it a point to say 'this is not where we end'."

She added that as journalists, they made the commitment to "see the problem through."

"The Marawi siege is just the start of the problem. It shouldn't be the end of our coverage," she said.

Meantime, ABS-CBN DocuCentral's "Local Legends: Bandurria" about a local master craftsman in guitar-making also bagged the Silver World Medal for cinematography.

ABS-CBN's Creative Communications Management’s “To Love and To Serve” campaign, which expressed the love of a “Kapamilya” and how ABS-CBN is committed to serve Filipinos through its various services and products, also received the Bronze World Medal for Station/Image Promotion category.