MANILA (UPDATE) - ABS-CBN News' six-part series on victims of the war on drugs in the Philippines took home the award for Excellence in Human Rights Reporting at the Society of Publishers in Asia's (SOPA) 2017 Awards for Editorial Excellence.

The ABS-CBN Investigative and Research Group's “War On Drugs: The Unheard Voices” bested entries from Channel News Asia and humanitarian news agency IRIN.

The report, developed for the web by ABS-CBN News Digital Media's multimedia unit, tells the stories of slain drug suspects and the families they left behind. It was published on October 27, 2016 on news.abs-cbn.com.

ABS-CBN Integrated News and Current Affairs head Regina Reyes received the prize during the SOPA Awards Gala Dinner at the Hong Kong Convention and Exhibition Centre Thursday night.

The series also received Honorable Mention for Excellence in Investigative Reporting.

#SOPAwards2017 Honorable Mention Group B Excellence in Investigative Reporting: @ABS_CBNNews: War on Drugs: ...https://t.co/LTaCoBuqZt

— SOPA (@sopasia) June 15, 2017

SOPA was founded in 1982 to champion freedom of the press, promote excellence in journalism and endorse best practices for all local and regional publishing platforms in the Asia Pacific region, according to the organization.

It is a not-for-profit organization based in Hong Kong and representing international, regional and local media companies across Asia.

The annual SOPA Awards for Editorial Excellence serve as the world-class benchmark for quality journalism in the region, organizers said.