2 Chinese recipients of RM awards not attending ceremony

MANILA, Philippines - A spokesman of the Chinese embassy in Manila said yesterday the decision of two Chinese recipients of this year’s Ramon Magsaysay Awards not to come to Manila to attend the ceremony is their personal decision.

Sun Yi, deputy chief of the political section and spokesman of the Chinese embassy in Manila, said awardees Pan Yue and Fu Qiping are not coming to Manila for personal reasons.

The third Chinese awardee, photojournalist Huo Daishan, is already in the country to attend the awarding rites on Tuesday.

Pan, vice minister at the Ministry of Environmental Protection, and Fu, chief of Tengtou village in Zheijiang province, were cited for creating opportunities to address China’s environmental crisis.

As vice minister of the environmental protection agency, Pan has actively implemented the Environmental Assessment Law of 2003 and the Open Government Information Regulations of 2007.

Fu, a farmer who has been a village chief since 1980, had used China’s decentralized system to turn Tengtou into one of China’s most prosperous villages by practicing environment-friendly agriculture and using renewable energy.

The village of only 830 inhabitants has a wastewater treatment system and solar-powered streetlights.