9 receive TOYM awards

MANILA, Philippines - Celebrity basketball player Chris Tiu and former Sarangani governor Miguel Dominguez led yesterday’s nine recipients of this year’s The Outstanding Young Men (TOYM) Awards.

President Aquino led the awarding ceremonies held at Malacañang.

Tiu, team captain of the Ateneo Blue Eagles and the Smart Gilas Philippine national team from 2008 to 2012, was cited for “youth leadership and development” while Dominguez was credited for his stint in government and public service.

In his speech, Tiu raised concerns about how the young generation seems to be focused on themselves, citing the prominence of the “selfie” or self-portrait photograph.

He said the old and usual virtues of patience and perseverance are fading out because of the dominance of technology.

“Because of modern day technology, we hardly have to wait for anything anymore and therefore, there is less need to be patient and persevering,” he said. “This is a cause for concern because these so-called millennials will be our future leaders.”

He urged his fellow awardees and the public to help people understand that these are no longer the values that Filipinos are admired for – that of being “lazy, narcissistic, materialistic, feeling of entitlement and less concerned with community.”

Modern tools can be used to reach out and propagate the core values of excellence, integrity and a deep sense of service to community, said Tiu.

“There are some things that remain and should remain constant. And these things are the timeless values that the TOYM Foundation espouses – excellence, honesty, humility, simplicity, sacrifice and charity, just to name a few,” Tiu added.

Meanwhile, there were two female TOYM awardees this year: 30-year-old teacher Nicole Paula Cayco Curato for sociology and PLDT corporate executive June Cheryl Cabal-Revilla for community service.

The five other awardees were Emerson Atanacio for social entrepreneurship, Custer Deocaris for science communication, Alonzo Gabriel for food science and technology, and doctors Karl Michael Reyes and Paolo Antonio Silva for medicine.

The screening panel for this year’s awards was led by lawyer Theodore Te, himself a TOYM awardee in 2002.

Te is now the spokesman of the Supreme Court after his teaching stint at the UP College of Law.

The board of judges was composed of former trade secretary Jose Pardo (chairman), music guru Ryan Cayabyab (1978 TOYM awardee), former budget secretary Benjamin Diokno, SC justice Marvic Leonen, PLDT executive Napoleon Nazareno, Radyo Veritas president Fr. Anton Pascual and Camarines Sur Rep. Leni Robredo.

2 Pinoy diplomats honored

Also yesterday, President Aquino conferred the Order of Lakandula on two Filipino career diplomats for their outstanding performance in foreign service.

The recipients were Ambassadors Esteban Conejos Jr. and Henry Bensurto Jr. of the Department of Foreign Affairs.

Conejos and Bensurto were accompanied by their respective families and by Foreign Affairs Secretary Albert del Rosario.

Conejos is the country’s permanent representative and ambassador of the Philippine mission to the World Trade Organization in Geneva.