Jay Taruc
Born	Jose R. Taruc Jr. January 26, 1973
Nationality	Filipino
Education	Centro Escolar University
Spouse	Mary Joan B. Taruc
Children	Jose Luis B. Taruc, Sofia Gabriela B. Taruc
Parent(s)	Jose Malgapo Taruc Jr., Angelita R. Taruc
Career
Network	One News (since 2018) GMA Network (1994−2018)
Website	Ride PH

Jose R. Taruc III (Tagalog pronunciation:[tɐˈɾuk]) is aFilipino journalist and former television news reporter and presenter forGMA Network. Together withJessica Soho, he won aGeorge Foster Peabody award for his documentary produced forBrigada Siete. In 2019, he moved toOne News on airing his program Ride PH (also airing atOne PH).

Taruc is the eldest of four children of veteran journalistJoe Taruc and a graduate of broadcasting degree fromCentro Escolar University.^[1][2][3] He married June, a dentist, and the couple has a son named Luis and daughter named Sofia Gabriela.^[4][5] The family lives inQuezon City.^[5]

In 1994, Taruc worked as a researcher and production assistant forBrigada Siete, an investigative TV show inGMA Network.^[6] He made his first news report on a rupture ofMount Parker's crater inSouth Cotabato that brought flood in the surrounding community.^[7]

He received several awards for the documentaries he made for the show, including the 1998 CNN World Report Award/Category: On Going Story for "Comfort Women." In 1999 together withJessica Soho's "Kidneys for Sale" and "Kamao," his documentary entitled "Mga Batang Alipin", an exploration into the country'schild labor through the coverage of forced detention and rescue of child-workers in a fish sauce factory, won the George Foster Peabody award, the first for the country and the GMA Network.^[5][8][9] "Mga Batang Alipin" was also a finalist in the New York TV and Film Festival's UNICEF Special Award on that same year and in 2000, it won the Award for Investigative Journalism.^[8]

Aside from being a beat news reporter, he worked as substitute anchor for24 Oras, an evening news program, andGMA News TV'sNews to Go.^[3][5] He was an anchor of the primetime edition ofOne Balita Pilipinas onOne PH andOne News alongside Angela Lagunzad until December 29, 2023.

On March 18, 2024, Taruc became a news anchor ofMoJo: Mukha ng Balita on One PH.

He joined the team ofSandra Aguinaldo,Kara David andHowie Severino that producedi-Witness, a documentary TV show in 2000.^[3][6][10] ThePhilippine Army's clearing operation of landmines left by Muslim extremists inMaguindanao was his first documentary that was broadcast in the program.^[7]

In 2004, his work entitled "Batang CP" was a finalist in that year's ABU/CASBAA UNICEF Children's Rights Award. It discussed the plight of children withcerebral palsy and co-hosted by Peter Jonas, cerebral palsy-patient who graduated with honors at theUniversity of the Philippines.^[8][11] On the same year, another one of his documentaries named "Basurero" (Scavenger) that depicted extreme urban poverty was the finalist in the New York and Shanghai TV and Film Festival.^[6][8]

He received the UNICEF Child Rights Award at the 45th Asia-Pacific Broadcasting Union general assembly inIndonesia in 2008 for the i-Witness episode "Batang Kalabaw" (Child Beast of Burden) that he produced. The documentary, which also earned the program the CMMA Best Documentary Show in 2009, focused on the story of a teenage girl named Cherilyn, the breadwinner of a family of five children and absent parents, who traded logs by carrying them in theAgusan del Sur mountains.^[6][7][12]

In 2012, he won the Silver World Medal for Documentary at the New York Festivals for the episode "Lapnos," which covered stories of patients at Mindanao Burn Center.^[13][14] Two years later, his documentary called "Tarima" that was about the indigenous people inDavao del Norte,Mindanao won the 2014 Gawad Agong award.^[15]

In interviews, Taruc said that his passion for motorcycles started in 2000 and he preferred them as means of transport. He was also a member of a riders club that traveled aroundVisayas and Mindanao.^[6][16] By July 15, 2011, he hosted theMotorcycle Diaries, a television documentary show on GMA News TV.^[3][17] The show's title was inspired by afilm of the same title that chronicledChe Guevarra's travel aroundSouth America on a bike.^[6]

The format showed Taruc riding a motorcycle while covering stories of people and places.^[7] According to Aris Ilagan of TopGear, it was the first show in the country that had the format and wrote, "With his deep passion for motorcycles and documentaries, he was able to produce a hit series that earned him a strong following in the motorcycle community."^[2] It ended on March 16, 2017, despite high ratings and critical success due to inadequate sponsorship to cover production costs.^[2][10]

He left GMA Network in August 2018 when he had difficulties meeting the demands of work while looking after his daughter who was diagnosed withspinal muscular atrophy.^[3] On August 20, 2017, he co-produced and hostedRide PH, a half-hour TV show onGMA News TV.^[4][10] The program focused on the culture and community of motorcycle riders, road safety, and vehicle maintenance.^[2][3]

In 2019,Ride PH finally moved to its new home atOne News (also aired onOne PH). Subsequently, he has also a new show at One PH titled Ride Radio which airs every Saturday at 5:00 pm.

• Living people
• Filipino reporters and correspondents
• Filipino television journalists
• Peabody Award winners
• GMA Network (company) people
• GMA Integrated News and Public Affairs people
• TV5 Network people
• News5 people

• Articles with short description
• Short description is different from Wikidata
• Use Philippine English from September 2022
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• Use mdy dates from December 2022
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• Date of birth missing (living people)
• Year of birth missing (living people)