Insular Life launches Common Threads, Uncommon Lives: Profiles of TOFIL Awardees 1988-2005

Insular Life launched recently a book entitled Common Threads, Uncommon Lives: Profiles of TOFIL Awardees 1988-2005, a collection of 48 stories of the lives and works of The Outstanding Filipino (TOFIL) Awardees. The launching of the book was held at the Insular Life Corporate Centre Theater, in Alabang, Muntinlupa, and coincided with the awarding of the 2006 TOFIL Awardees. It was attended by past TOFIL Awardees or their family members who personally received their copies of the book.

"While the search for Outstanding Filipino Award identifies the outstanding individuals and brings them to public attention, we believe the book would perpetuate and immortalize them, their contributions to society and the values they exemplify, so that the present and future generations of Filipinos would have more heroes to look up to," explains Insular Life Chairman of the Board and CEO Vicente R. Ayllon.

Edited by An Mercado-Alcantara and published by Insular Life, the book was able to put together some of today’s best storytellers to trace how these common threads of everyday life transformed into uncommon lives.

Among those featured in the book and present at the book launch were Juan Acosta, Adolfo Bellosillo, Helena Benitez, Gelia Castillo, Fe del Mundo, James Dy, Alfredo Lim, Sr. Eva Maamo, Remedios Macalincag, Crispin Maslog, Bobby Manosa, Flerida Ruth Romero, Menardo Jimenez, Onofre Pagsanhan, Pierre Tritz, and Jose Vitug,

Ayllon said in his message, "Common Threads, Uncommon Lives is dedicated to the Filipino youth because it is through them that the legacy created by our awardees will live on. We have faith in the innate talents of our young people, and if we would be able to convince them to believe in themselves, and to inspire them to dream big, work hard, persevere, in similar manner as our TOFIL awardees have done, we then would have increased their chances to live a better life and to work towards making our country more progressive."

Insular Life will donate 2,500 copies of the book to public and private high schools and 500 copies to public libraries all over the Philippines.