Celebrating greatness of spirit at the Ramon Magsaysay awards
MANILA, Philippines - In recognizing this year’s Ramon Magsaysay awardees, the foundation’s Board Chairman Juan B. Santos asks whether the so-called “millennials†or the digital age generation are able to value the selfless and heroic acts shown by these Asian men and women.
“Or are they simply so engrossed in making sure they look good in their ‘selfie’ shots that they couldn’t care any less about anything else?†says Santos.
Puzzling indeed, as what is considered to be Asia’s most prestigious recognition barely gets mentioned in social networking sites, much less have it trend on Twitter when #BerMonths and #illNeverDateAPersonWho are some of the top conversation topics as of this writing.
Certainly, the accomplishments of the Philippines’ Dr. Ernesto Domingo, Indonesia’s Komisi Pemberantasan Korupsi (Corruption Eradication Commision), Myanmar’s Lahpai Seng Raw, Afghanistan’s Dr. Habiba Sarabi, and Nepal’s Shakti Samuha are worth talking about.
The 76-year-old Dr. Domingo took on the task of creating a public health system that doesn’t look at whether one is able to pay or not. Since forming the Universal Health Care (UHC) Study Group in 2008, Dr. Domingo has been influential in crafting the government’s Kalusugang Pangkalahatan Program. Because of this the Department of Health’s budget doubled and some 80 percent of the population is now enrolled in the national health insurance program.
And by pushing for hepatitis vaccination to be mandatory and available to all, Dr. Domingo has practically saved millions of lives in the Philippines.
The KPK, meanwhile, has turned Indonesia from being one of the most corrupt countries in the world to having one of the most admired campaigns against corruption.
KPK boasts of a one-hundred percent conviction rate of 169 cases involving top government officials in Indonesia. It has also returned to the state treasury more than $80 million in recovered assets. Indonesians believe so much in the KPK that when the parliament refused to allocate money for its building, citizens donated money instead for its construction.
Seng Raw knows personally how abusive the military can be in Myanmar, having been detained on the suspicion that she has communications with the insurgent Kachin group. But in establishing the NGO group Metta Development Foundation in Burma, Seng Raw created a solution to the issue of population displacement while also providing emergency relief in conflict zones.
With Seng Raw at the helm, Metta’s programs have reached over 600,000 people in 2,352 communities following her example of inclusiveness and promoting a non-violent culture of participation and dialogue.
Determination and courage are perhaps Dr. Sarabi’s strongest character traits. Having initially conducted women’s right classes and organized mobile doctors in refugee camps, Dr. Sarabi was then appointed to head the Ministry of Women’s Affairs before becoming governor of the province of Bamyan.
As Afghanistan’s only female governor and the first woman to hold the position in the country’s history, Dr. Sarabi worked with various stakeholders in road construction and other infrastructure projects, agricultural development, and improvement of health facilities and health workers, all while continuing to advocate public education and women empowerment.
In Nepal, women seeking employment in another country often end up being victims of human trafficking. But it is not only adult women who are victimized but children as well, sometimes tricked by people they know including their relatives and friends.
The first anti-trafficking NGO run by trafficking survivors, Shakti Samuha aims to unite and empower those affected by trafficking by providing shelter, medical care, counseling, legal aid, educational support, skills training, and even loans for income-generating activities. It has so far rehabilitated and reintegrated 678 victims. The organization continues to campaign changing society’s perspective towards human trafficking victims.
These five awardees join the 296 others before them in the 55 years of the Magsaysay Awards. And whether or not their selfless deeds resonate with the digital age generation, what can never be denied is that the changes they were able to make not only commemorate the ideals of the late president Ramon Magsaysay, it is also a celebration of humanity’s greatness of spirit.
