The country’s outstanding civic leaders gathered at the Manila Polo Club to celebrate the 10th Ramon V. del Rosario (RVR) Award for Nation Building and the first-ever Ramon V. Rosario Siklab Awards last July 24, 2019. Leading the awarding was Mr. Ramon R. del Rosario, Jr., President and CEO of PHINMA Corporation and son of the late statesman and entrepreneur Ambassador Ramon V. del Rosario.
“Marking its 10th year, the Ramon V. del Rosario Award for Nation Building has truly come a long way with its roster of now eleven titans of entrepreneurship and genuine builders of our Filipino Nation. They have blazed the most challenging of paths, providing the leadership needed to inspire teams and even entire communities to innovate and dream big,” said PHINMA President and CEO del Rosario.
The RVR Award for Nation Building, created in 2010, recognizes outstanding business and community leaders in the country that have greatly contributed to the development of the Filipino nation. It is a yearly project of the Junior Chamber International Manila together with PHINMA and the Asian Institute of Management’s Ramon V. del Rosario Center for Corporate Responsibility.
The 2019 RVR Award for Nation Building recipient, Dr. Jaime Aristotle Alip, was honored for his work with the Center for Agriculture and Rural Development Mutually Reinforcing Institutions (CARD MRI) – a group of companies helping less fortunate Filipinos establish their own businesses by providing microfinance, micro-insurance, business development services, and other basic social assistance to more than four million families in over 82 provinces nationwide.
Under his leadership, CARD MRI was honored with the prestigious Ramon Magsaysay Award for Public Service in 2008 and the Global Excellence for Microfinance by the Grameen Foundation, USA.
Past recipients of the RVR Award for Nation Building include notable personalities in the Philippines such as Henry Sy, Sr., Manuel V. Pangilinan, Jaime Agusto Zobel de Ayala, Vicente Paterno, Washington Sycip, Oscar Lopez, and Ambassador Jesus Tambunting.
The RVR Siklab Awards, on the other hand, draws inspiration from the experiences of PHINMA Founder Ramon V. del Rosario and the awardees of the RVR Award for Nation Building. It is a nationwide search for young, up and coming civic leaders who have exhibited exceptional leadership in pursuing their own advocacies and creating a positive impact in their community. It was inaugurated in 2018 by PHINMA together with the De La Salle University Ramon V. Del Rosario College of Business and the Junior Chamber International Manila.
In its inaugural year, the RVR Siklab Awards honored five young leaders – Jan Bernard Tan, Melissa Yap, Gary Avila Ayuste, Dr. Edgar Elago, and Clarissa Isabelle Delgado.
Jan Bernard Tan dreams to encourage every Filipino to volunteer towards building a better Philippines. He was recognized for establishing iVolunteer – the Philippines’ first volunteer website that links volunteer organizations and potential volunteers based on their needs, interests, and skills. Using his background in Computer Science, he also established Computer Literacy Advocates for the Youth right after he graduated from college.
Melissa Yap was recognized for helping local farmers and indigenous communities around the country become more sustainable. In 2007, she organized Got Heart Foundation, a non-profit, one-stop-shop featuring local and organic goods from local farmers. She partnered with Hizon’s Catering in 2013 to put up Earth Kitchen – a farm-to-table restaurant that serves healthy and organic dishes and prioritizes direct sourcing of ingredients from partner communities.
Leyte-based entrepreneur and beekeeper Gary Avila Ayuste was recognized for inspiring local farmers and communities to appreciate the advantages of beekeeping in helping the environment. After working as an overseas Filipino worker for seven years, he established Beengo Farm – a 400-square meter bee and mango farm located in Tunga, Leyte. He educates tourists, students, and farmers on the importance of bees in the ecosystem. Mr. Ayuste also helps universities in Leyte become bee-friendly campuses.
Dr. Edgar Elago founded Project Scholar in 2011 – a local initiative that helps deserving highschool graduates go to college. He works as an educator in a barrio highschool in a rural community in his province of Agusan del Norte, where he teaches students from the Mamanwa and Manobo indigenous people communities. Dr. Elago hopes to help his students realize their potential and nurture their passion and capacity to serve their communities.
Clarissa Isabelle Delgado co-founded the Teach for the Philippines (TFP), a non-profit organization which recruits young professionals to teach for two years in public schools throughout the Philippines. TFP, with its commitment towards equal access to quality education for all Filipino learners, trains and transforms their fellows into leaders to advocate education equity in the education sector and in national and local government offices.
The search for the first batch of Siklab awardees was opened last year to Filipinos aged 25 to 35 years old. It seeks to highlight the spark of leadership in the youth who have made significant contributions in transforming the lives of fellow Filipinos and have a proven commitment to nation-building.
“May our winners and their stories inspire us to keep fighting for what is good and what is right in these times of uncertainty, when more walls are being built up again, when freedoms we cherish are at risk, when inclusive growth continues to elude us, and when humanity’s continued apathy and denial is accelerating global scale climate disaster,” he concluded.