MANILA, Philippines - The JCI Senate Philippines and Insular Life formally awarded the recent winners of The Outstanding Filipino or TOFIL awards for 2009.
This year’s TOFIL winners are Teotimo M. Aganon, Ph. D.for Science and Technology; Senen C. Bacani for Agriculture; Arturo C. Cunanan Jr., M.D., Ph. D. for Public Health; Lydia B. Echauz, D.B.A. for Education; and Oscar M. Lopez for Business.
As a fitting honor to their exemplary achievements, they were each given a trophy made by National Artist Napoleon Abueva, a medallion and a plaque of recognition. On hand to confer these were Insular Life president and COO Mayo Jose B. Ongsingco, JCI Senate national president JCI Sen. Arthur B. Zurbito Jr., 2009 TOFIL chairman JCI Sen. Genaro R. Bautista, and 2009 TOFIL board of judges chairman retired Justice Flerida Ruth P. Romero.
The awards night centered on the theme “Bayanihan, Bayani, Bayan”. These ideals exemplified and summed up the lifeworks of the honorees. Fueled by their passion to serve, they exerted their utmost to achieve excellence and in the course of doing so, contributed in nation-building.
Guest speaker Antonio P. Meloto Jr., himself a TOFIL awardee for Humanitarian Service in 2006, acknowledged the awardees’ achievements. Meloto noted that a great part of the winners’ accomplishments is due to the sacrifices that they and their families had made to fulfill their dreams. He further underscored the night’s theme of bayanihan by noting that he has had the pleasure of working with most of the winners through the Gawad Kalinga project.
TOFIL is an annual recognition program of the JCI Senate Philippines and Insular Life. The TOFIL award recognizes men and women, at least 41 years old, who have excelled in their fields of endeavor and have contributed significantly to the upliftment of lives in their communities. The two organizations have been awarding Filipino achievers since 1988.