Triennial Awards: Unsung heroes recognized

Most of last week was what I would call a “Triennial Week” in Cebu because it was the time to give out the prestigious Triennial Awards of the Ramon Aboitiz Foundation Inc. (RAFI). The week began with the first Triennial Awards Summit with the motto “Leaders of Change” at the Sacred Heart Center for the whole day of Wednesday and culminated with the fourth Triennial Awards night at the Casino Español on Friday evening.

The Triennial Awards – the Don Ramon Aboitiz Most Exemplary Individual and the Don Eduardo Aboitiz Most Outstanding Institution – are given by RAFI once every three years. Sir Roberto “Bobby” Aboitiz chairs RAFI and for this year, he went further to exploit the idea of holding the first Triennial Summit of stakeholders to foster a dialogue or exchange of ideas.

Allow me to mention the finalists for Exemplary Individual: Dr. Chelsa Cacaldo, a rural health physician in Negros Oriental; Dr. Ray Catague, provincial health officer III of the Integrated Provincial Health Office-Cotabato; Wilhelmina Gonzales, president of the Negros Economic Development Foundation Inc. (NEDFI); Glicerio Lucrecia of Zamboanga del Sur; and Dr. Gerardo Maxino, a physics educator for change.

The Outstanding Institution finalists were Achilles Bayano of the San Francisco Association for Differently-Abled Persons Multi-Purpose Cooperative in Agusan del Sur; Mrs. Cecilia Flores-Oebanda of the Visayan Forum Foundation Inc. (Vis-Min); Crisanto Amper of FREELAVA Cebu City; Leonardo Moneva of the Mag-uugmad Foundation Inc. Cebu City; and Mario Victor Baang of the SOS Children’s Village (SOS-DV).

In my book, these finalists are winners in the hearts and minds of the communities that they serve for the simple reason that they are doing what they doing not to win awards, but to help the least of our brethren. They are truly the unsung heroes of our time. These people don’t waste their time like what most people do, by cursing the reality of the darkness that we are experiencing once more 23 years after the EDSA Revolt, and in their own way, they light up the candle and truly they have touched the people that they have served.

Last Friday night, Sir Bobby Aboitiz announced the fourth Triennial Awardee for Exemplary Individual and the honor was bestowed upon Dr. Chelsa Cacaldo whose tireless work in the hinterlands of Negros has helped so many people and we congratulate her for this recognition.

For the Most Outstanding Institution, the fourth Triennial Award was bestowed upon the Visayas Forum Foundation Inc. (VFFI) chaired by Ma. Cecilia Oebanda who helps the helpless, most especially women who are being trafficked as prostitutes. The VFFI has done more to help these women than government institutions. Again, our congratulations to Mrs. Oebanda and the VFFI.

The Triennial Awards is only one of the many things that RAFI does, but it is fast becoming our version of the Nobel Prize for Social Development. I have said it here many times before that Cebu’s success is also due to the Aboitiz family’s corporate social responsibility (CSR) led by RAFI and the Aboitiz Foundation (AF).

Call it coincidental that while RAFI was recognizing our unsung heroes in the Visayas and Mindanao, Forbes Magazine recognized four Filipinos among the 48 Heroes of Philanthropy in the Asia-Pacific region. They are Manuel V. Pangilinan of First Pacific and PLDT/Smart; Alfonso Yuchengo Sr., chairman of the Yuchengco Group; Henry Sy of the Shoemart chain of Super Malls; and Jon Ramon Aboitiz, chairman of the Aboitiz Holding Co.

Yes, Forbes Magazine recognized these four Filipinos for their CSR work and for Aboitiz, allow me to reprint what Forbes wrote, “Jon Ramon and brothers Roberto and Mikel are the most active family members in the Ramon Aboitiz Foundation, which started as a traditional charity in 1966. The foundation is more of a development institution today. It focuses on child welfare, community development, Cebuano heritage, microfinance, youth leadership and the environment, and spent $1.6 million in 2007. Over the past five years, it has put hundreds of thousands of dollars into renovating public schools in Cebu province. Its latest initiative is to find homes and livelihoods for the Badjao, nomadic Sulu fishermen, who have become beggars on the streets of Cebu City.”

That four Filipinos were recognized by Forbes Magazine sends ripples of hope throughout the country that there is hope through the private sector.

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For e-mail responses to this article, write to [email protected]. Bobit Avila’s columns can also be accessed through www.philstar.com. He also hosts a weekly talkshow, “Straight from the Sky,” every Monday, 8 p.m., only in Metro Cebu on Channel 15 of SkyCable.