11 awardees of this year’s TOYM bared

MANILA, Philippines - Eleven exceptional Filipinos who have had a positive impact on the country will be honored in this year’s The Outstanding Young Men and Women (TOYM) awards, breaking tradition of awarding only 10.

Christopher Camba, national chairman of the TOYM search, said the judges opted to choose 11 awardees from 66 finalists because of the importance of their advocacies.

Now on its 56th year, TOYM seeks to give national recognition to young active citizens who, by sheer dedication to their profession or vocation, have given significant contributions to their community and to the country.

This year’s outstanding young Filipinos are Carmela Andal-Castro for child protection law, Ryan Guinaran for indigenous peoples’ rights, Richard Muallil for marine science and Ronivin Pagtakhan for HIV.

Other awardees are Saturnino Tiamson for arts and music, Geraldine Racaza for medicine, Earl Martin Valencia for entrepreneurship, Jhett Tolentino for theater arts, Javad Foronda Heydarian more known as Richard Heydarian for social science, Clarisse Delgado and Randy Halasan for education.

President Duterte will confer the award on the honorees at Malacañang tomorrow. The awardees will receive a trophy and a medal.

Meet the awardees

The only awardee in the law category is Castro, who specializes in child protection. In her years as a lawyer, she has rescued and assisted victims of human trafficking and sexual abuse, and prosecuted cases against the perpetrators.

Castro is now the managing director of the Consuelo Zobel Alger Foundation, where she continues to work to protect the welfare of children. Together with local government units and other organizations, she works to prevent child abuse and to provide protection and recovery for victims of abuse.

One of the awardees in the education category is Delgado, co-founder and CEO of Teach for the Philippines, a non-profit social enterprise which seeks to provide equal opportunity for quality education, particularly to public school students.

To achieve this, Teach for the Philippines selects and trains young Filipinos to teach for two years inside public elementary schools as “teacher fellows.”

Under Delgado’s leadership, the organization has expanded nationwide, with a 38 percent growth in employee engagement, 20 percent increase in Teacher Fellow population and 80 percent annual expansion in public schools reached.

Another awardee in the education category is Halasan who hails from Davao City. The 34-year-old teacher works in Pegalongan Elementary School, the farthest school in Davao City serving the Matigsalog tribe.

Halasan also established the Sitio High School to continue the studies of the young members of the tribe and minimize early marriage. He also organized the Pegalongan Farmers Association in 2011 and recently, the Pagalongan Matigsalog Youth Association.

His strong advocacy for the welfare of the community also led to the construction of roads and hanging bridges leading to Pegalongan.

Another indigenous people (IP) advocate has been named TOYM awardee this year. Guinaran, a Cordilleran (Ibaloy Igorot) Filipino, engages his fellow IPs to create a positive change in their community.

His advocacies focus on health, youth mobilization, education, history and culture and arts.

Guinaran has an impressive postgraduate educational background in medicine, but decided to put his efforts for the betterment of his IP community in Benguet.

Heydarian, on the other hand, is a professor, opinion columnist and policy adviser. He has been recognized in this year’s TOYM for the social sciences.

He has authored internationally published academic books, as well as hundreds of articles and opinion pieces for leading publications and media outlets, such as The Guardian, Foreign Affairs and CNN International.

Heydarian is also a widely recognized expert on the West Philippine Sea dispute and Philippine and Asian current affairs.

Leading the field of Marine Sciences, meanwhile, is Muallil from Sibutu Island in Tawi-Tawi. Right after finishing his PhD in Marine Science, he went back to Tawi Tawi to collaborate with other scientists and work in a local college.

His focus is on the preservation of marine resources in Tawi-Tawi, which is also fast deteriorating due to climate change and other manmade disasters.

Racaza, TOYM awardee for medicine, has been active in various humanitarian advocacies aside from her work as a doctor.

She spearheaded concerts, shows and other fundraising activities for the benefit of patients and volunteered in Sagip Buhay Medical Foundation, among others. Racasa helped in the creation of the Rheumatology Bridging Lupus Fund.

Also spearheading HIV awareness in the country is Pagtakhan, TOYM awardee for youth leadership. He is the founder of LoveYourself, one of the leading organizations in HIV awareness, testing and treatment in the Philippines.

Under Pagtakhan’s leadership, LoveYourself has established two clinics, two of the top most visited in the country for HIV screening.

In 2015, the organization helped screen 30,000 clients. About half of newly diagnosed persons with HIV in Metro Manila, and 20 percent in the Philippines, come from LoveYourself clinics.

Tiamson has also been recognized as TOYM awardee for his accomplishments in the field of music.

Through his workshops, Tiamson helps young Filipinos get free training in music and pass scholarship programs for the underprivileged.

Tolentino, meanwhile, is a Broadway producer and has been named TOYM awardee for arts in theater. – Mary Grace Padin, Robertzon Ramirez