2008 Ramon Magsaysay Awardees:
"Pathfinders in a Changing Asia"

The Board of Trustees of the Ramon Magsaysay Award Foundation (RMAF), headed by Chair Jaime Augusto Zobel de Ayala II, led this year's Presentation Ceremonies and 50th Anniversary celebrations at the Main Theater of the Cultural Center of the Philippines last August 31, the 101st birth anniversary of the late President Ramon Magsaysay. Seven individuals and one organization from the Philippines, Thailand, Japan, India, Indonesia, and Sri Lanka received Asia's premier prize, the Ramon Magsaysay Award. The 2008 Magsaysay laureates are:

Grace Padaca, from the Philippines, for Government Service. She is being recognized for "empowering voters in the Philippines' Isabela province to reclaim their democratic right to elect leaders of their own choosing, and to contribute as full partners in their own development."

Therdchai Jivacate, from Thailand, for Public Service. He is being honored for "his dedicated efforts in Thailand to provide inexpensive, practical, and comfortable artificial limbs even to the poorest amputees."

Center for Agriculture and Rural Development Mutually Reinforcing Institutions (CARD MRI), from the Philippines, for Public Service. They are being honored for their "successful adaptation of microfinance in the Philippines, providing self-sustaining and comprehensive services for half a million poor women and their families."

Prakash Amte and Mandakini Amte, from India, for Community Leadership. They are being recognized for "enhancing the capacity of the Madia Gonds to adapt positively in today's India, through healing and teaching and other compassionate interventions."

Ahmad Syafii Maarif, from Indonesia, for Peace and International Understanding. He is being honored for "guiding Muslims to embrace tolerance and pluralism as the basis for justice and harmony in Indonesia and in the world at large."

Akio Ishii, from Japan, for Journalism, Literature, and Creative Communication Arts. He is being recognized for "his principled career as a publisher, placing discrimination, human rights, and other difficult subjects squarely in Japan's public discourse."

Ananda Galappatti, from Sri Lanka, for Emergent Leadership. He is being recognized for "his spirited personal commitment to bring appropriate and effective psychosocial services to survivors of war and natural disasters in Sri Lanka."

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Over the past 50 years, Asia has produced many inspiring and successful leaders, including over 250 men and women who have been honored with the Ramon Magsaysay Award. In August this year, the collective, on-the-ground experiences of Magsaysay laureates, and leaders of business, civil society, media, academe, multilateral institutions, and development assistance organizations will expectedly yield powerful insights on the themes of poverty and inequality, environmental degradation, and social conflict in...

Changing Asia:

Forging Partnerships, Building Sustainability

An International Conference

Click here to Download Conference Papers and Presentation.

Please visit the RMAF Blog at
      http://www.rmaf.org.ph/blog/
for new features and announcements about the Magsaysay Awardees, as well as updates on the Foundation's latest projects and activities.

We'll also post reflections from guest bloggers -- partners who have been touched and inspired by the Magsaysay laureates.

Of course, this blog is one way for the Foundation to interact with you, our visitors. So please leave your comments and share with us your own stories about Asia's heroes.

5th RAMON MAGSAYSAY STUDENT ESSAY COMPETITION (RMSEC):
GRAND PRIZE WINNERS ARE KNOWN!

The Ramon Magsaysay Award Foundation (RMAF) in ceremonies held at the RM Center Thursday, June 26, 2008, announced as national winners of the year-long 5th cycle of the RMSEC: Ms. Kate Lynn Heceta of the O.B. Montessori for the high school level, and Mr. Oliver Lemuel Villegas of the University of the Philippines Mindanao for the college level. The two were selected from a roster of seven finalists which included:

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