RAFI: Giving heroes a day of recognition!

For our very special guest tonight on Straight from the Sky, we celebrate with great honor, joy and blessing for the 50th Sacerdotal Anniversary of our beloved eminence Ricardo Cardinal Vidal, which is a momentous day of his life. Last Feb.6, 2006, we did have an interview with the Cardinal for his 75th Birthday, unfortunately we were not able to air this show because of technical difficulties. But since his eminence is celebrating a lot of things this year, he graciously agreed to another interview. See our beloved Archbishop of Cebu tonight on SkyCable's channel 15 at 8:00 p.m.

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It was an emotional night last Saturday at the Casino Español, when the Ramon Aboitiz Foundation, Inc. (RAFI) presented this year's finalists for the 3rd Triennial Awards, which are split into two categories, the Ramon Aboitiz Award for Exemplary Individual and the Eduardo Aboitiz Award for Outstanding Institution.

By now, you must have already heard that Mayor Ramon Piang Sr. won the award for Exemplary Individual, while Lihok Pilipina, through its founder Mrs. Tessie Fernandez won the Award for Outstanding Institution. But in my book, all the finalists are jewels in their own right because their being nominated to the Triennial Awards is recognition enough.

For those who couldn't attend the awards night at the Casino Español, they're probably wondering, what RAFI came up with for its trophy? Actually, this trophy is a gesture of someone extending a helping or benevolent hand to another in need. One is bending down to extend a hand, while the one below is trying to reach out... in obvious need. But what makes this trophy unique is that when you view it from a quarter angle, the outlines form that of a human heart, which is what all this is all about... people showing their love for those who have less in life.

I was fortunate to have interviewed all the finalists in our talkshow Straight from the Sky, except for Fr. Robert Layson who couldn't make it to our interview or even accept his nomination. But from what we learned about this priest, he virtually turned his church into a refugee center during war between the Muslims and the military. He didn't care if those who sought refugee were Muslims or not... because he believed religion is not an issue when war erupts. This alone makes him a hero in the land of Muslims.

Lihok Pilipina run by Mrs. Tessie Fernandez is perhaps the most known to us Cebuanos as they have a commanding presence in Cebu, helping so many of the poor, especially battered women. My personal encounter was when we wrote a column about women that the police arrested on suspicion of prostitution, where we questioned that a policeman may have just entrapped those poor girls so they could be jailed. It was Tessie Fernandez who went out of her way to ensure that the women's rights are not trampled.

I would describe Mayor Ramon Piang, Sr. who won the Award for Exemplary Individual as a square peg in a round hole. He doesn't talk like most Municipal Mayors that we meet. He was proud that he was giving good governance to the people of Upi in Maguindanao... even if most politicians do not have this in their vocabulary. Mayor Piang works to improve his town and his people... he doesn't work for himself. This is a rare quality in an elected official, which is why RAFI honored him with this award.

Like what we said, the rest of them are also winners in our hearts. Margie dela Cruz a Marine Biologist in UP Tacloban City came up with the Guiuan Development Foundation, which gives you an idea that our schoolmasters can do much for our people, not just in academics. The same is true with Hadja Bainon Karon of the United Mindanawan Bansamoro Women's Multi-Cooperative. She was a member of the Moro National Liberation Front (MNLF) and shifted her focus from fighting the Philippine government to fighting poverty, which should be the goal of everyone!

Mr. Domingo Tadena who is taking care of Philippine Monkey Eating Eagles in Davao City was a nobody, but he strived to learn about life and ended up becoming a wildlife conservationist. The Mahintanan Foundation whose executive director is Martiniano Magdolot had the same concerns for the environment, helping the area around Mt. Matutum in Cotabato City. We also met with Dr. Rizal Aportadera of the Maharlika Charity Foundation, Inc. who has a lot of doctors and nurse volunteers who do charity work, operating even in the Mayor's offices for free. Now they even have a mobile medical center. Finally, there's the energetic Mr. Ruel Hipulan of the Save Mindanao Volunteers Inc. who helps the Manobos in the marshlands of Agusan del Sur, whose houses, schools and library are floating in the marshlands, giving us a hint of its great tourism potential.

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