The RVR Award for Nation Building
The Ramon V. Del Rosario Award for Nation Building is a project of the Junior Chamber International Manila (JCI Manila), or what is more popularly known as the Manila Jaycees, in partnership with the PHINMA Group of Companies and the Asian Institute of Management’s Ramon V. del Rosario Center for Corporate Responsibility.
The RVR Award recognizes individuals who best exemplify outstanding corporate citizenship and have an underlying passion for nation building. It recognizes those who have proven themselves worthy of honor and emulation, having demonstrated outstanding entrepreneurial spirit, and achieved national or global impact.
The award was named in honor of Ambassador Ramon V. del Rosario, JCI Manila’s founding president and the acknowledged “Father of Philippine Modern Industry,” who was an icon in both business and the diplomatic service, having served as ambassador to Canada, Germany and Japan.
A distinguished alumnus of the De La Salle University, who posthumously named its College of Business after him, RVR (as he was fondly called) had helped set up Del Rosario Brothers Inc.; Filoil Refinery Corp., at one time the biggest all-Filipino company and the first Filipino-owned oil company; and, of course, Philippine Investment and Management Consultants or PHINMA.
From its humble beginnings in 1956, PHINMA has grown through the years into a group of 23 companies with diversified interests in energy, education, roofing, financial services, property and housing.
Aside from the JCI Manila, RVR was also one of the seven founders of the Management Association of the Philippines.
The RVR Award was launched in September 2009 and has evolved to become the premier awards program of JCI Manila.
2019 marks the 10th year the awards will be given and also the launch of the first ever RVR Siklab Awards, to be given to young Filipinos, youth leaders who “blaze new and less-trodden paths” — building foundations for a better nation and who demonstrated exceptional leadership in their respective fields towards nation building.
The first-ever Siklab awardees were Clarissa Isabelle Delgado, co-founder and CEO of Teach for the Philippines; Edgar Elago, founder of Project Scholar, Cooltura Culture and Project ADAMMS; Gary Ayuste, Beengo Farm founder; Melissa Young-Yap, founder and executive director of Got Heart Foundation; and Jan Bernard Tan, co-founder of iVolunteer Philippines and The Good Store Philippines.
Throughout the years, the RVR awardees were the following: Ambassador Jesus P. Tambunting (2009); former Agriculture secretary Senen Bacani (2010); Lopez Group of Companies chairman emeritus Oscar M. Lopez (2011); SGV & Co. founder Washington Z. SyCip (2012); former senator Vicente T. Paterno (2013); Ayala Corp. chairman and CEO Jaime Augusto Zobel de Ayala (2014); First Pacific founder, managing director and CEO Manuel V. Pangilinan (2015); SM Group founder and industrialist Henry Sy Sr. (2016); GT Capital Holdings Inc. founder George S.K. Ty (2017); and Tallwood Venture Capital managing partner Diosdado Banatao (2018). A quick perusal of the above list will show it’s a veritable who’s who in business and leadership.
This year, the RVR Award for Nation Building went to Dr. Jaime Aristotle Alip, entrepreneur and founder/managing director of the Center for Agriculture and Rural Development Mutuality Reinforcing Institutions (CARD MRI).
Alip was recognized for leading CARD MRI in providing microfinancing opportunities for low-income communities, empowering women and providing support beyond microfinance.
It gives me great pleasure to know that there are awards like this one that honor all those who, in one way or another, whether as business taipan or entrepreneur or foundation worker at the grassroots level, whether young or not-so-young, work towards nation-building.
And nation-building is nothing but the alleviation of poverty and working towards ensuring that every Filipino has a better way of life.
MVP said it best back in 2015 in his acceptance speech to his RVR award:
“India’s first prime minister Nehru captured the essence of what we all should strive to achieve as we build this nation. Nehru said, in August 1947, on the eve of Indian independence and soon after the assassination of his mentor, Mahatma Gandhi: ‘The achievement we celebrate today is but a step, an opening of opportunity to the greater triumphs and achievements that await us. The service of India means the service of the millions who suffer. It means ending poverty and ignorance and disease and the inequality of opportunity. The ambition of the greatest man of our generation has been to wipe every tear from every eye. That may be beyond us, but as long as there are tears and suffering, our work will not be over.’
“Whilst our work in our country is indeed far from over, may everyone in this room resolve to wipe every tear — in every eye — of every Filipino.
“If RVR were here with us tonight, I’m quite sure he would agree.” *
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