Former Philippine President Fidel V. Ramos congratulated this year’s The Outstanding Filipino awardees for their invaluable contributions to nation-building.
FVR said the winners are not only worth emulating, but they also exemplify Filipinos at their best. “They have demonstrated and cultivated the culture of excellence that we all must strive to possess,” Ramos said. “Excellence should become the driving force for us to become globally competitive,”.
Winners of this year’s TOFIL awards are San Miguel Corp. president and CEO Ramon S. Ang (Business/Entrepreneurship); Dr. Glenn S. Banaguas (Environment Conservation and Science Diplomacy); Dr. Joselito R. Chavez (Medicine); Dr. Virgilio L. Malang (Science and Technology); Legazpi City Mayor Noel E. Rosal (Government/Public Service); and Nelly Siababa-Aggangan (Agriculture).
Ramos extended the congratulations to JCI Senator Melandrew T. Velasco, TOFIL 2019 National Chairman, and JCI Senate Philippine PR Director, during the latter’s courtesy call to the former Chief Executive.
Now on its 30th year as a prestigious award-giving body, TOFIL is a flagship project of JCI Senate Philippines in partnership with ANSA Foundation. According to Ramos while every citizen, regardless of economic or social position, has a hero’s heart, this year’s awardees, however, do not only possess heroes’ hearts, they are nation-builders—among the few—who think beyond individual and family welfare to the interest of the larger community, the nation.
Ramos cited TOFIL awardee Ramon S. Ang who successfully engineered San Miguel Corp. to become one of the country’s largest conglomerates. The diversification of SMC has enabled it to participate in the government’s massive infrastructure program. From being a food and beverage manufacturing corporation, it has embarked in energy, roads, water infrastructure, and recently airports notably the P700-billion Bulacan International Airport.
“Mr. Ang is a visionary, patriotic and strategic thinker,” Ramos said. Ramos recalled that during his presidency the privatization of infrastructure projects, whether in the water, power and transportation sectors, were done through several variations of the build-operate-and transfer schemes. This allowed the building of high-priority infrastructure projects where the government does not have either the financial or managerial capacity to build and manage new facilities at the rate needed to sustain the vigor of a developing economy.
With SMC now undertaking infrastructure projects identified and approved by the government, it
has become an active partner in nation-building. “Development simply cannot proceed with adequate infrastructure and to fast-track, this needs private sector participation,” he added.
The awardees were chosen from a short list by the Board of Judges chaired by Supreme Court Administrator Justice Jose Midas Marquez along with JCI Senate President Domingo O. Roque Jr., JCI Sena Rogelio Garcia, Ambassador Francis Chua, and TOFIL 2010 awardee for Arts and Culture Shirley Halili Cruz.