The Philippines joined yesterday the ceremonies that took place simultaneously in some 150 countries to announce the women nominees, all of whom are engaged in the cause of peace and human dignity.
The country’s nominees for the prestigious award were presented and lauded at the Cultural Center of the Philippines (CCP) in Manila.
They are part of some 1,000 women from 150 countries nominated as a group by international coordinators from an initiative started by Swisspeace, a non-government organization (NGO) based in Bern, Switzerland.
Apart from Soliman, Yorac and Ang-See, the other nominees are Marilou Diaz-Abaya, filmmaker, Mothers of Peace; Piang Tahsim Albar, Amanat Foundation, Jolo; May Lou Alcid, Kanlungan Center Foundation, Migrant Forum in Asia; Cecille Guidote-Alvarez, PETA, Earth Savers, Executive Director; Adoracion Cruz Avisado, former Davao City judge; Ana Theresia Hontiveros-Baraquel, Coalition for Peace and Akbayan party-list representative in Congress; Loretta Navarro-Castro, Miriam College Center for Peace Education; Maria Lorenza Palma-Dalupan, Office of the Presidential Adviser on the Peace Process; Teresita Quintos-Deles, presidential adviser on the peace process;
Sister Mariani Dimaranan, Task Force Detainees of the Philippines (TFDP); Teresa Banaynal Fernandez, Cebu City Bantay Banay; Miriam Colonel Ferrer, Philippine Campaign to Ban Landmines; Hadja Bainon Guibar Karon, Bangsamoro Women and Autonomous Region in Muslim Mindanao (ARMM) — Department of Social Welfare and Development (ARMM-DSWD); Myla Jabilles Leguro, Catholic Reef Services and Mindanao Peacebuilding Institute; Zenaida Tan Lim, Sarang Bangun Foundation; Delia Ediltrudes "Duds" Santiago-Locsin, Paghiliusa sa Paghidaet-Negros;
June Caridad Pagaduan Lopez, International Council for the Rehabilitation of Torture Victims; Seiko Bodios Ohashi, Japan Committee for Negros Campaign; Zenaida Brigida Hamada-Pawid, Cordillera People’s Forum; Sister Mary Soledad Perpiñan, Third World Movement Against the Exploitation of Women; Elisa Gahapon del Puerto, Christian Children’s Fund; Miriam Suatico, Inter-Religious Dialogue Program of Isabela, Basilan; Pura Sumangil, Concerned Citizens of Abra for Good Government; Irene Morada Santiago, Mothers for Peace.
Yorac, who last year was honored with the Ramon Magsaysay Awards for government service — Asia’s equivalent of the Nobel Prize — once headed the National Unification Commission, Commission on Elections (Comelec) and Presidential Commission on Good Government. Yorac resigned as PCGG chair last April.
Ang-See, founding president of the non-government organization Kaisa Para Sa Kanluran, is an active crusader against crime and corruption in government.
Soliman, President Arroyo’s Social Welfare and Development Secretary, is widely known to be a committed social worker and one of the more trusted officials in the Arroyo Cabinet.
The nominees for this year’s Nobel Peace Prize were honored at a reception held at the CCP.