7 top Asians, group receive RM Awards for 2008

Seven individuals and one organization from India, Indonesia, Japan, the Philippines, Thailand and Sri Lanka received Asia’s premier award, the Ramon Magsaysay Award, for the year 2008 during presentation ceremonies at the Cultural Center of the Philippines in Pasay City yesterday, the birth anniversary of the late president.


The awardees are:

Grace Padaca, from the Philippines, for Government Service. She was recognized for "her empowering voters in the Philippines’ Isabela province to reclaim their democratic right to elect leaders of their own choosing, and to contribute as full partners in their own development."

Center for Agriculture & Rural Development Mutually Reinforcing Institutions (CARD MRI), from the Philippines, for Public Service. It was honored for "successful adaptation of microfinance in the Philippines, providing self-sustaining and comprehensive services for half a million poor women and their families."

Therdchai Jivacate, from Thailand, for Public Service. He was honored for "his dedicated efforts in Thailand to provide inexpensive, practical, and comfortable artificial limbs even to the poorest amputees."

Prakash Amte and Mandakini Amte, from India, for Community Leadership, who were recognized for "enhancing the capacity of the Madia Gonds to adapt positively in today’s India, through healing and teaching and other compassionate interventions."

Ahmad Syafii Maarif, from Indonesia, for Peace and International Understanding. He was honored for "his guiding Muslims to embrace tolerance and pluralism as the basis for justice and harmony in Indonesia and in the world at large."

Akio Ishii, from Japan, for Journalism, Literature, and Creative Communication Arts. He was recognized for "his principled career as a publisher, placing discrimination, human rights, and other difficult subjects squarely in Japan’s public discourse."

Ananda Galappatti, from Sri Lanka, for Emergent Leadership. He was recognized for "his spirited personal commitment to bring appropriate and effective psychosocial services to victims of war trauma and natural disasters in Sri Lanka."

The eight 2008 Ramon Magsaysay awardees joined 263 other laureates who have received Asia’s highest honor to date, according to the Ramon Magsaysay Award Foundation (RMAF). This year’s winners each received a certificate, a medallion bearing the likeness of the late President, and a cash prize.

Established in 1957, the Ramon Magsaysay Award is Asia’s highest honor and is widely regarded as the region’s equivalent of the Nobel Prize. It celebrates the memory and leadership example of the third Philippine President, and is given every year to individuals or organizations in Asia who manifest the same sense of selfless service that ruled the life of the late and beloved Filipino leader.

"The Magsaysay awardees of 2008," said RMAF President Carmencita T. Abella, "are indeed pathfinders in a changing Asia, charting new ways to address persistent, often intractable problems in their societies.

"Working in different countries on diverse issues of poverty, prejudice, politics, livelihoods, and health, these awardees nevertheless share an uncommon faith in the tremendous potential of people and social institutions.

"They share as well an indomitable will and persistence to tap into this potential and thus create greater, and lasting, good. Mobilizing many others to join their efforts, their accomplishments bring us reassuring news of progress, justice, healing, reform, and hope.

"In a world grown increasingly fragmented and cynical, the Ramon Magsaysay Award Foundation is uniquely privileged to be the bearer of such inspiring news from Asia," Abella said.

The Magsaysay Award is currently given in six categories:

Government Service — for "outstanding service in the public interest in any branch of government, including executive, judicial, legislative, or military."

Public Service — for "outstanding service to the public good by a private citizen."

Community Leadership — for "leadership of a community toward helping the disadvantaged have fuller opportunities and a better life."

Journalism, Literature, and Creative Communication Arts — for "effective writing, publishing, photography, or use of radio, television, cinema, or theater as a power for public good."

Peace and International Understanding — for "outstanding contributions to the advancement of friendship, peace and solidarity as the foundations for sustainable development within and across countries."

Emergent Leadership — for "outstanding work of an individual, 40 years of age and below, on issues of social change in his/her community, but whose leadership is not yet broadly recognized outside of this community."

During the Foundation’s four decades of existence, Asia has made great progress, some nations more than others. Yet the region continues to grapple with problems of poverty, malnutrition, disease, and violence, as well as with newer problems that have come with progress itself, the Foundation said.

In recognizing individuals and organizations who have addressed these issues with extraordinary vigor, integrity, and selflessness, the Foundation seeks to honor the memory of President Ramon Magsaysay and to place living examples of exceptional service before the public.

Currently, India leads the number of awardees with 47, followed closely by the Philippines with 46. The other countries whose citizens and organizations have received the Magsaysay Award are Japan, 22; Thailand, 21; South Korea, 19; Indonesia, 18; Pakistan, 12; Malaysia, 11; and China and Taiwan, with 10 winners each.

Other winners have come from Bangladesh, with nine; Sri Lanka, eight; Hong Kong, six; Vietnam and Nepal, with four each; Burma and Cambodia, with three winners each; Laos and Singapore with two winners each; and East Timor and Tibet, with one laureate each.
The Ramon Magsaysay Award was established by the trustees of the Rockefeller Brothers Fund (RBF) based in New York City in April 1957. With the concurrence of the Philippine government, the prize was created to commemorate late president of the Philippines and to perpetuate his example of integrity in government, courageous service to the people, and pragmatic idealism within a democratic society.

In May 1957, seven prominent Filipinos were named the founding board of trustees of the Ramon Magsaysay Award Foundation, the nonprofit corporation tasked with implementing the awards program.

Invited to serve as honorary chairman and vice chairman, respectively, were Sergio Osmeña, former president of the Philippine Commonwealth, and Don Exequiel Magsaysay, father of Ramon Magsaysay. Belen H. Abreu, then legal counsel of the Commission on Elections, was asked to serve as executive trustee.

In 1959, the Philippine Congress donated to the RMAF a parcel of land on Roxas Boulevard equivalent in value to the original RBF grant and, in subsequent legislation, gave the Foundation full tax exemption privileges.

Additional grants and a loan from the RBF made possible the construction of the Ramon Magsaysay Center which, since 1968, has housed the RMAF staff and provided revenue to support the Foundation’s work.

Contributions from private individuals and companies in the Philippines and abroad have enabled the RMAF to accept custodianship of the Magsaysay Papers and Memorabilia, to maintain a public library on contemporary Asia, to sponsor national and international symposia on subjects of vital current interest, and to fund continuing projects of awardees through the Program for Asian Projects (PAP).

Today, the awards program is managed by a board of trustees composed of nine Philippine citizens serving staggered fouryear terms. An appointed president oversees the fulltime administration of the program.

The RMAF recognizes and honors individuals and organizations in Asia regardless of race, creed, sex, or nationality, who have achieved distinction in their respective fields and have helped others generously without anticipating public recognition.

The awards were orginally given in five categories: government service; public service; community leadership; journalism, literature, and creative communication arts; peace and international understanding.

In the 2000 Magsaysay Awards Presentation Ceremonies, the Foundation announced the creation of the sixth category, Emergent Leadership, which was established with the support of a grant from the Ford Foundation.

The award for Emergent Leadership honors "individuals, forty years of age and below, doing outstanding work on issues of social change in their communities, but whose leadership is not yet broadly recognized outside of these communities." An award in this category was given for the first time in 2001.

The RMAF solicits award nominations from selected persons throughout Asia who are qualified by virtue of position, expertise, or experience each year. Nominations are carefully investigated and the awards themselves are determined following rigorous evaluation by the Foundation’s board of trustees.

Presentation ceremonies are held annually in Manila on August 31st, the birth anniversary of the late president.