Metro Manila (CNN Philippines, August 31) — Former Philippine Economic Zone Authority (PEZA) Director General Lilia de Lima and the Philippine Educational Theater Association (PETA) are among the six laureates who received the 2017 Ramon Magsaysay Award on Thursday.
They were awarded in a ceremony at the Cultural Center of the Philippines attended by several dignitaries, including Vice President Leni Robredo, Ombudsman Conchita Carpio Morales and former President Fidel Ramos.
Morales was one of the Magsaysay laureates in 2016.
De Lima, who headed PEZA for 21 years until her retirement in 2016, was cited for “building a credible and efficient” agency that enabled the Philippines to rise as one of top investment destinations in Asia.
Meanwhile, PETA, represented by its president Cecilia Garrucho, received the award for its “bold, collective contributions in shaping theater arts as a force for social change.”
Established in 1957, the Ramon Magsaysay Award, dubbed as the Asia’s version of the Nobel Prize, is given annually to individuals or organizations in Asia who have shown selfless service and positive influence that marked the life of the late President Ramon Magsaysay.
All six laureates received a certificate, a medallion bearing the likeness of the late President Magsaysay, and a cash prize.
The four other winners are Japanese historian Yoshiaki Ishizawa, Sri Lankan teacher Gethsie Shanmugam, Singaporean businessman Tony Tay, and Indonesian indigenous people leader Abdon Nababan.
Some notable past Ramon Magsaysay awardees are Filipino statesman and lawyer Jovito Salonga, Washington SyCip, founder of SGV & Co., former senator Miriam Defensor-Santiago, cultural researcher Ligaya Fernando-Amilbangsa, indigenous people’s teacher Randy Halasan, and physician Ernesto Domingo.
