Why the Ramon Magsaysay Awards matter
By Dexter R. Matilla
Philippine Daily Inquirer
First Posted 14:01:00 08/29/2008
THE BAROMETER OF ASIAN greatness is supposed to be the Ramon Magsaysay Award, the Manila-based recognition that, its organizers lament, is more famous elsewhere in Asian than in its home.
Now 50 years old, the RM Awards are considered by a greater part of the Asian population as the ultimate recognition in the region, not so much as the equivalent of the Nobel Peace Prize as greater than the Europe-based prize.
RM laureates, all 271 of them, including this year’s eight awardees, have been addressing a wide range of human development issues often amid very adverse circumstances.
This year’s winners are the Philippines’ Grace Padaca (government service) and the Center for Agriculture and Rural Development Mutually Reinforcing Institutions (public service), Thailand’s Therdchai Jivacate (also for public service), India’s Prakash Amte and Mandakini Amte (community leadership), Indonesia’s Ahmad Syafii Maarif (peace and international understanding), Akio Ishii from Japan (journalism, literature, and creative communication), and Ananda Galapatti of Sri Lanka (emergent leadership).
They will be conferred on Aug. 31 at the Cultural Center of the Philippines.
Padaca is recognized for empowering voters of Isabela province to reclaim their democratic right to elect leaders of their own choosing, and to contribute as full partners in their own development.
The CARD-MRI has provided microfinance for half a million poor women and their families in the Philippines.
Thailand's Jivacate has provided the poorest amputees with inexpensive, practical, and comfortable artificial limbs made out of recycled plastic.
The Amte couple of India helped enhance the capacity of the Madia Gond tribe of India to adapt positively to the contemporary era through healing and teaching.
Maarif, a retired leader of one of Indonesia’s biggest Muslim organizations Muhammadiyah, has dedicated his life in preaching religious tolerance and insisting that terrorism is not the authentic face of Islam.
Japan's Ishii is cited for his principled career as a publisher and his attempts to put discrimination, human rights, and other difficult subjects squarely in Japanese public discourse. He is the first Japanese to win in the category since 1973.
Sri Lanka's Galapatti is a Cambridge-trained psychologist whose spirited personal commitment brought appropriate and effective psychosocial services to victims of war trauma and natural disasters in Sri Lanka.
The awardees will each receive a certificate, a medallion bearing the likeness of the late President Magsaysay, and $50,000.
RMAF president Carmencita Abella described the winners as pathfinders who chart new ways to address poverty, prejudice, politics, livelihood, and health in their societies but never losing faith in the tremendous potential of people and social institutions for renewal and reforms.
For its 50th year, the RMAF is doing an impact study. Cynthia Bautista, who heads the study project, said that the study would seek to trace the evolution of the awards and assesswhere the awardees are now and what further contributions they have made after being recognized.
Video series
The video series "Ripples of Change" documents the achievements of the laureates. It shows how awardees have been guided by the two “powerful truths” according to the Magsaysay vision: That making significant improvements require a sea-change in mind-sets, systems, and cultures in Asian societies and the region as a whole; and the humbling acknowledgment that all meaningful change begins in some very concrete and specific circumstance, often quietly and inconspicuously, until the initiative gathers force and momentum, resulting into larger and more profound impact.
The video documentary series, "Democracy and Good Governance," has so far featured Aruna Roy of India (community leadership, 2000); Jesse Robredo of the Philippines (government service, 2001); Park Won Soon of Korea (public service, 2006); Kiran Bedi of India (1994); Sheila Coronel of the Philippines (journalism, literature, and creative communication arts, 2003), and Teten Masduki of Indonesia (public service, 2005).
Also for the 50th anniversary this year, the RMAF is holding "Asia Forum: An International Conference (Changing Asia: Forging Partnerships, Building Sustainability)" on Aug 29-30 at the Philippine International Convention Center. Magsaysay laureates from 21 Asian countries will participate in the forum, as well as senior business leaders, and representatives of international development assistance organizations, multilateral institutions, development NGOs, research and academic institutions, government, and media.
Another highlight this year is the first-ever Manila performance of Taiwan’s Cloud Gate Dance Theater.
Over all, the 50th anniversary celebration of Asia’s most important award is expected to reaffirm the vision of the award as glimpsed from the example of the late Philippine president after whom the recognition is named: greatness of spirit wills movement and change.
E-mail the author at dxmatilla@yahoo.com
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